Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on what to expect for Sunday’s presidential debate
By Rachel Chodor
On Thursday, ‘Morning Joe’ co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski joined Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga on “2016 The Choice.” They reflected on Tuesday’s vice presidential debate as well as what to expect for Sunday’s debate between the presidential nominees.
Scarborough began by describing town-hall-style debates and the difficulties some candidates have connecting with an audience. He told Golodryga, “You go back to 1992 — I think one of the turning points of the ’92 campaign, when George H.W. Bush was going up against Bill Clinton. … Bill Clinton connected with an audience member and said that he felt her pain.” This style of debate “brings out the best and the worst of candidates. If you’re a candidate like Bill Clinton, it’s very good for you.” When it comes to Sunday’s town-hall debate, Scarborough wondered whether “Donald Trump may not be the one that ends up looking more natural in that sort of setting than Hillary Clinton … who as a candidate sometimes can be stiff and awkward.”
Regarding the vice presidential debate, Brzezinski was “thrown off by Gov. Pence”; she thought “he was extremely skilled.” She believes the people behind Trump’s campaign make him look really good. Vice presidential candidates are in a difficult position trying to please the top of the ticket, and Brzezinski told Golodryga that “Mike Pence does it really well.”
On Bill Clinton’s recent comments about Obamacare, Scarborough said, “The media hasn’t really picked it up as much as I would have thought.” He told Golodryga, “If you work 60 hours a week, if you play by the rules, if you really bust it in the workplace as Bill Clinton said, you actually have a health care plan by the federal government that penalizes you for your hard work. … Bill Clinton gave that talking point to the Republican Party, and I’m sure it’s going to help a lot of Republican candidates across the country.” Brzezinski thought this was fascinating; she told Golodryga, “President Obama’s recent poll shows that he has a 55 percent approval rating, the highest in his second term. … There’s gotta be some incredible dynamic of resentment going on there for these things to keep slipping out.”
Finally, Brzezinski reflected on Trump’s comment in an interview that his remarks about women’s body image were done for entertainment. She told Golodryga, “I think, first of all, Trump supporters agree with that, … they’re kind of in on his joke. I think some of the things that he said recently about Miss Universe sort of rehashes the things he’s said in the past and put them in a new light and show the women of America … a renewed kind of resentment. That’s the kind of thinking that we dealt with in the ’70s and the ’60s. … It’s really a setback for women for comments like that to be accepted.”
