“Where do I go now at 7 o’clock at night for an honest, heart-on-my-sleeve reaction to politics in America, not just electoral politics today, but the politics of every day? Where do I go? My friend, your friend, Chris Matthews is not dead. He has retired from Hardball, but he will still be around, and I hope to see him as a guest many times right here on Morning Joe. But, the thing that I fear most, Joe, about what happened yesterday—Chris’s resignation, is it opens the door further to an element in our culture that I find disturbing. No matter how valid the complaints were or may have been about Chris, there’s a sense of easy outrage in this country that is fed largely by Twitter sometimes, and the outrage quickly becomes toxic, and that toxic outrage has the opportunity, the chance, and often results in something that we saw last night—Chris’s resignation,” says Barnicle about the bigger picture behind Hardball host Chris Matthews’ abrupt resignation and the need for society to “pump the brakes on the easily obtained outrage and live our lives.”
Listen in on this Morning Joe conversation with Willie Geist, John Heilemann, and Mike Barnicle as they preview Super Tuesday, including how presidential candidate Joe Biden will fare on the day when the greatest number of states hold their primary elections and caucuses after the former vice president’s blowout victory in the South Carolina primary. “Suddenly, after Saturday in South Carolina, it was as if Joe Biden had made his entry into the presidential race. Massive amounts of free media that he got on Saturday, Sunday, yesterday, and including this morning. And what happened in that free media? Joe Biden looked like an ordinary empathetic, humble, compassionate human being. A striking contrast to the President of the United States, and I think a lot of people paid attention to it. They saw him. They like him. They liked him anyway and they liked him even more after they see him in these settings. So, what happens today? Nobody knows what’s going to happen today, but I would expect that he will have a much, much, much better day today than he ever dreamed of having last Friday,” says Barnicle as he gives his prediction for Biden on Super Tuesday. Join the conversation here.
Listen in on this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle as they discuss President Donald Trump’s campaign continuing view that presidential candidate Joe Biden is the “biggest threat” to him in a general election. “The one thing about the Biden campaign with regard to Donald Trump and other campaigns….What you hear is the spectacular data gathering operation of the Trump campaign. Brad Parscale, genius at data, and the data clearly shows Joe Biden, `uh-oh, is a problem’ for Donald Trump,” says Barnicle about the polling conducted by President Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale. Hear more of the discussion here.
The Morning Joe panel assesses the possible reasons behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s continued attacks on former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg during Democratic presidential debates instead of directing her energy toward “the unstoppable freight train” thus far in the race for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders. “She is a skillful, highly disciplined debater. Maybe the best debater certainly on that stage. Yet in this case, now twice with Mike Bloomberg to her right, both times her discipline disappears,” says Barnicle. Hear more of the discussion here. Only on MSNBC.
Listen in on this Morning Joe review of the Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina, where the presidential candidates eagerly savaged one another, seeking an advantage before the pivotal South Carolina primary. “I almost clicked over to a Cactus League baseball game given the chaos at the beginning of that debate when…I couldn’t understand who was saying what—they were all yelling at one another,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle. The panel’s overall assessment: Joe Biden had his best night of all the debates, Elizabeth Warren’s attacks on Mike Bloomberg, Bloomberg’s highlight regarding what he did in New York City about the Coronavirus and Bernie Sanders appearing “rattled” for the first time. Join the conversation here.
The Morning Joe panel discusses presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ clear economic message that resonates with voters. “If you listen to Bernie Sanders at any one of his rallies…he gets into something that I have not heard the other candidates get into: It’s the paycheck-to-paycheck economy. The take-home pay of people who know when they look at their paycheck, they hear all the talk about the roaring stock market—except for yesterday—and they know that they’re not doing as well as they did in 1995, on a per capita basis. Bernie talks about that,” says Barnicle ahead of the Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina.
Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski talk with John Heilemann and Mike Barnicle about presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders doubling down on his praise of Fidel Castro, the former Cuban dictator. “Bernie Sanders on his feet is a spectacular candidate. He’s been doing this for 40 years. He knows how to take a turn. He knows how to deflect. He’s good on his feet—better than almost all the other candidates involved, and he’s still doing it,” says Barnicle about the prowess of Sanders as a presidential candidate. More of the conversation here.
Listen in on this Morning Joe conversation between Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle as they discuss the state of Egypt and the life of former Egyptian Leader Hosni Mubarak, who has died at 91 years old. “It’s still one of the most unstable, volatile countries in the Middle East. And what happened with Hosni Mubarak, when he was arrested and deposed, I mean that was the beginning, the kernels, of the unrest in the Middle East in Egypt right there,” says Barnicle. Join the conversation here.
Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist are joined by Adrienne Elrod and Mike Barnicle to discuss presidential candidate and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s serious, issue-oriented Super Bowl ad, which his campaign says will air just after halftime. “This ad is fine. It’s factual. It gets the job done in terms of what Mike Bloomberg stands for. But the oddity of the placement strikes me a little,” says Barnicle. Join the conversation here.
Listen in as the Morning Joe panel discusses what’s next in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump after former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly lent his support to former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s reported claim that President Trump overtly sought to condition Ukrainian aid on the Kiev government’s willingness to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Join the conversation here.
“The narrative is very compelling, and at the end of the day people understand two things: Trials with no evidence and no witnesses is a bag job. That’s part of what they’re carrying to the country in Colorado, in Iowa, in North Carolina, Thom Tillis. That’s a tough task to carry to voters, unless you’re willing to cop to the truth: ‘I’m also in the satchel. I am in the bag to the President.’ Try explaining that to your voters in a town hall meeting,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation with Joe Scarborough about Senate Republicans clinging to President Donald Trump’s “coattails” during the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump.
Listen in on this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle as they discuss the “overall ignorance” of President Donald Trump and the lack of accountability for what he says, a day after Trump announced he is open to cutting Medicare and other entitlement programs. Join the conversation here.
Listen in on this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist, Jonathan Lemire and Mike Barnicle as they recap and discuss day one of the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, where House impeachment managers and White House counsel engaged in a marathon debate over rules for the impeachment trial that dragged past midnight and Chief Justice John Roberts scolded both sides for their lack of decorum after a spat between impeachment manager Rep. Jerry Nadler and White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who is leading President Trump’s defense. “It’s so blatant and repeated not only by Pat Cipollone but nearly the entire crew of defense of the President’s defense team: Blatant lies, blatant half-truths, mistruths just uttered in front of the Chief Justice of the United States. It’s going to have an impact. There’s going to be pay back here at some point,” says Barnicle. Join the conversation here.
“The thing that’s most on trial is the United States Senate. How can these senators who seemingly are on the fence or in Donald Trump’s pocket hear evidence such as this and continue the charade that nothing happened?” asks Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle of BBC World News America Washington anchor Katty Kay during a conversation about Republican senators’ stance in light of MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s bombshell interview with Lev Parnas, in which the former Rudy Giuliani colleague offered damning insight into the ongoing investigation concerning the Trump administration’s dealings with Ukraine. Listen to Kay’s response here.
“In the long run Major League Baseball did the right thing by inserting itself and trying to clear up this advanced analytics, technology hurricane that has overtaken Major League Baseball in the last ten years. In the scheme of things that we talk about normally here each and every day this is not a huge story, but in its essence it’s a sad story….Alex Cora is a terrific guy, he owned up to it, he basically resigned and now we have to watch out for Carlos Beltran with the New York Mets because he was in on it as well. So, we’ll see what happens there,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation with Joe Scarborough, Jonathan Lemire and Willie Geist about Cora, who parted ways with the Red Sox this week after having been linked to two sign-stealing schemes when he was the Houston Astros’ bench coach in 2017, and Beltran, the new manager for the New York Mets, whose named also appeared in the MLB’s report on the Astros’ cheating scandal. Join the conversation here.
“Politics is still a people business. And guess what, Mike Bloomberg has a ton of money. Tom Steyer has a ton of money. People like Joe Biden. They see him in New Hampshire. They see him in Iowa in small forums, and people – it’s a people business,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle about Democratic presidential hopefuls Michael Bloomberg, Tom Steyer and Joe Biden during a conversation with Joe Scarborough and Axios’ Jim Vandehei about the phenomenon of money in American politics.
Listen in on this Morning Joe conversation with Willie Geist, Guy Cecil and Mike Barnicle as they discuss the recent Monmouth University poll on the New Hampshire Democratic primary that shows presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg leading the field in the state with 20 percent while presidential candidates Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are all within five percentage points. “I’ve been up in New Hampshire several times in the past six weeks. It’s extremely volatile. It’s still the four of them, jump ball. Who knows what’s going to happen?” comments Barnicle. Join the conversation here.
“We’ve done some quick math around the table here…and the President of the United States has played more rounds of golf than the top three PGA winners last year and his green fees average out to about $1.2 million a round,” says Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle during a conversation with Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist and Yamiche Alcindor about President Donald Trump’s golf habit and expenses as he travels to his resorts to play the game that he was so critical of President Barack Obama for playing. Join the conversation here.
Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle and Sen. Angus King (I-ME) discuss U.S. cybersecurity concerns after Iran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops in retaliation for the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani. “How concerned are you about things like power grids, our ATM systems here in America, our water systems and cyber attacks?” asks Barnicle. Hear King’s response.
Listen in as Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) tells Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle details of the Senate’s 75-minute classified briefing by the Trump Administration about their rationale for striking a foreign government without prior notification to Congress, an “exceptional” six days after the killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.
Mike Barnicle is a veteran print and broadcast journalist recognized for his street-smart, straightforward style honed over nearly four decades in the field. The Massachusetts native has written 4,000-plus columns collectively for The Boston Globe, Boston Herald and the New York Daily News, and continues to champion the struggles and triumphs of the every man by giving voice to the essential stories of today on television, radio, and in print.
