Mike Barnicle

“One of the most admirable things about Bob Mueller has less to do with his service in Vietnam, his service in the Justice Department, his service as a homicide investigator in Washington, D.C. Through Mueller’s eyes and through some knowledge of Bob Mueller, the name Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, happens to be the focal point of this investigation in the public mind; but I would guarantee you that in Bob Mueller’s mind this is an investigation aimed at answering the question: Who did harm to my country, to Bob Mueller’s country, our country,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a Morning Joe conversation with national security expert Tom Nicholas about special counsel Robert Mueller and his Russia probe. Listen to Nicholas’ response here.

ICYMI: The Morning Joe panel, headed by Willie Geist and including Associated Press White House reporter Jonathan Lemire and veteran columnist Mike Barnicle, discuss the latest comments by Ty Cobb, a former White House attorney for President Donald Trump, who said that special counsel Robert Mueller is a hero and that Mueller’s probe is not a witch hunt. Listen to the conversation here.

Listen in on the Morning Joe conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and The Atlantic national correspondent Graeme Wood about Wood’s recent time spent with national security adviser John Bolton. “We are approaching 20 years at war in Afghanistan—soon to be like 7,000 days at war in one country. Did this come up in the course of your conversation? And if not, do you have any sense of Bolton’s feeling about our role in Afghanistan?” asks Barnicle. Listen to Wood’s response here.

“You would think from the outside looking in that this means the end—really—of the day-to-day operation of the Trump Administration. They’re going to be so tied up in responding and reacting to these requests internally in the White House…given a staff that does not get exactly high marks to begin with and the thinness of the staff—so many people have departed. How do they function, Jonathan, on a day-to-day basis with all of this hanging over their heads?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Associated Press White House reporter Jonathan Lemire as the Morning Joe panel talks about the House of Representatives launching a sweeping abuse of power investigation into President Donald Trump. Listen to Lemire’s response here.

Listen in on the Morning Joe conversation among Joe Scarborough, Donny Deutsch, Mike Barnicle and the Daily Beast’s Sam Stein about President Donald Trump and the GOP remaining silent about authorities having arrested a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and self-described white nationalist who had more than a dozen firearms, ammunition, and a hit list of Democratic lawmakers, activists and media personalities in his Maryland home. Barnicle, recalling the violent attack on a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia that targeted Republican members of Congress: “Within hours after (Congressman) Steve Scalise and other Republicans were shot and shot at on a softball field during practice for the congressional baseball game the Democrats had a prayer session, multiple numbers of Democrats issued statements. Where are the Republicans today on this? Where are they?” Listen to more of the discussion here.

ICYMI: Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough, Mike Barnicle and Willie Geist discuss the societal problems of gun violence and social media in the wake of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett being charged with a felony for allegedly staging a hate-crime attack to promote his career. “Superintendent Johnson in Chicago gave us the lead. And the lead isn’t Smollett—the lead is life on the street. The lead is the hundreds and hundreds of families, people, young people, old people in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston–you name the city–who live under the threat of the gun each and every day, each hour of every day. And young people being killed, shot on alleyways, on sidewalks for whatever: For wearing the wrong hat, wearing the wrong gang colors, things like that. These young people, many of them are immediately forgotten, their names never even appear in the paper,” says veteran columnist Barnicle. Listen to more of the conversation here.

While Morning Joe discusses the shocking testimony before the North Carolina State Board of Elections of John Harris, the son of GOP congressional candidate Mark Harris, saying he had warned his father about a political operative who’s at the center of the investigation into election irregularities, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle explains: “It took a lot of courage for him to take the stand and took a lot of courage for him to tell the truth to his parents and about his parents in a public setting like that. It’s something to draw a positive note from.” Listen to more about the decision to hold a new election in the 9th Congressional District after an investigation into absentee ballot irregularities.

Hear the conversation between Eurasia Group Foundation Fellow Mark Hannah and Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle about a new study that shows that younger Americans favor diplomacy over military intervention. “Mark, one of the things in your compelling study about the public reaction to foreign policy in this country: How much does 18 years of being at war tilt those numbers?” Listen to Hannah’s explanation here.

Listen in on the Morning Joe conversation about the escalation of violent rhetoric in the era of President Donald Trump, following authorities having arrested a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and self-described white nationalist who had more than a dozen firearms, ammunition and a hit list of Democratic lawmakers, activists and media personalities in his Maryland home. “In crimes of hate, there are also motives…and in this case, the motive is clearly hatred, and the hatred unfortunately, and the truth of the hatred, the root of the hatred is often found in the intent of the President of the United States to daily use his Twitter account to divide the country….He’s just intent on dividing the country. It’s the first time in our history we’ve had it, we’re living through it. Hopefully we will all survive it; but, you cannot deny that it is out there. It exists on a daily basis. The President of the United States is a divider,” says Barnicle.

“Words are also weapons—and especially when framed by the President of the United States—they are potentially lethal weapons. In this climate, in this country, at this time, with the ocean of guns that are out there and people’s access to weapons, this is a lot more than just playing with fire,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist and Elise Jordan discuss the escalation of violent rhetoric in the era of President Donald Trump, following news that federal authorities arrested a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and self-described white nationalist who had more than a dozen firearms, ammunition and a hit list of Democratic lawmakers, activists and media personalities in his Maryland home. Listen to more of the discussion here.

“Sometimes…the weight of all these issues have to be set aside for just a moment to engage in something that is vital to American life….February 14th, it’s a huge day. Pitchers and catchers have reported, and we’re beginning to think about real issues like lack of bullpen strength in Boston and how the Yankees are going to do,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the Morning Joe panel shares its final thoughts before Valentine’s Day.

“Joe, I’m going out and buying a new catcher’s mitt today in anticipation of tomorrow. That’s what tomorrow is all about,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle to Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough as the two of them share their excitement for the start of the new Major League Baseball season as Boston Red Sox pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Listen to more here.

“The wall is kind of a metaphor for Donald Trump’s presidency. The foundation of the wall is hate, it’s fear. And as you build his wall over the course of his political career, you build on that hate and that fear, and it becomes fear of the other, and then it becomes fear of brown people, and it becomes fear of caravans, and fear of invasions, and fear of MS-13. That’s the root of Trump’s presidential election and that’s going to be the root of his reelection campaign,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist discuss President Donald Trump’s much-promised border wall and the funding for it. Listen to more of the conversation here.

“The sadness for the country at this point in our history, our time here, right now, is that we have a President of the United States who constantly picks at the scab of division, of race and of class, and that’s not good for anyone. The Virginia story is just another added burden to our numbness when it comes to race and our inability to handle it,” comments veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a discussion with Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski about past racist behavior by Virginia’s governor, attorney general and a top state senator that come at a time of deep division over race and privilege in the country.

“At the end of this week if there is no deal, if we have another shutdown…the lack of faith in the system of government, which is already at an all time low, is going to increasingly dip,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough discuss whether another partial government shutdown is looming.

Hear the conversation among Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle with the Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass about President Donald Trump’s controversial military deployment at the U.S.-Mexico southern border and news that California is the latest state, following New Mexico, to pull troops from its state’s border with Mexico. “The public, the average citizen would be stunned by the cost of this mission. We are now talking hundreds of millions of dollars…it’s crazy,” says Barnicle. Listen to more of the discussion here.

Listen in on the conversation between Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and The Washington Post’s associate editor Eugene Robinson about Amazon founder and one of world’s richest men Jeff Bezos who has accused National Enquirer owner David Pecker and American Media Inc. of extortion and blackmail in connection with alleged compromising photos of Bezos. Says Barnicle: “When you have $800 billion in your checking account, there’s not much to fear because he’s not going to get fired. He’s not going to get shamed. He is Jeff Bezos.” Hear what Robinson has to say about working for the newspaper owned by “bad ass” Bezos here. Only on MSNBC.

Tune in to hear Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle discuss the developing debacle in Virginia, where three Democratic state officials have come under fire, including Gov. Ralph Northam, who has received calls for his resignation after a recently surfaced racist yearbook photo from 1984. Comments Barnicle: “What kind of a college allows that stuff—Ku Klux Klan pictures—in the yearbook?”

Hear more of the Morning Joe conversation with former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who’s eyeing a presidential bid in 2020 as an Independent and has a new book out, “From the Ground Up.” Asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle: “What are you going to do about restoring the role of unions in this country?” Listen to Schultz’s answers here.

Listen in on the conversation between Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is talking about his new book and his potential presidential bid in 2020 as an Independent. “The problem in America is that we have no leadership that’s trusted. The dignity and respect in the Oval Office is gone. And Republicans and Democrats no longer represent the essence of the American people,” says Schultz. Hear more of the discussion between Barnicle and Schultz here.