“Joe, this is a sobering and necessary discussion that we’re having right now. I would submit that we, as a country, collectively as Americans, have never been here before, where we are today. We’ve never been in this position. This is a country, this is a republic, created and born with the scab of racism on it due to slavery, due to people being brought to this country in chains as slaves. And every president that we have had, even many whom people disagreed with politically, including Richard Nixon, have always reverted to the principle focus of a presidency and that is to bring a country together in times of strife, in times of trouble or conflict, real or potential — with the exception of one president, this President, the incumbent president, who goes out of his way to provoke and tear at that scab of race, to tear at that scab that creates divisions in this country rather than bringing the country together….It is up to us, as individuals, as Americans, to stand for the character, the morality and the reputation of who we are as a country and who we are as individuals; but, we have never, ever, been here before,” explains veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the Morning Joe panel discusses the state of the country post President Donald Trump’s having referred to Haiti and African nations as “sh–hole countries” during a meeting with a bipartisan group of senators at the White House. Listen to more of the conversation here. Only on MSNBC.
“Michael, we now have a…cult of personality more than it is a presidency. It’s rooted around celebrity rather than competence. How long will it take, if it does take, to repair the damage that’s being done by this sort of cult of personality presidency?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of TIME contributing editor Michael Duffy as the Morning Joe panel talks about President Donald Trump. Listen to Duffy’s response here.
“The continued disparagement of the FBI and thus the Justice System in this country is truly truly damaging. It’s incendiary,” says Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during a conversation about President Donald Trump slamming the Trump-Russia Dossier in a morning tweet. Listen in as Barnicle and the New York Times Washington correspondent Michael Schmidt discuss what this means for Trump’s relationship with his legal team.
While the Morning Joe panel talks about President Donald Trump’s penchant for continuing to talk publicly about former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle says: “His inability to, in a phrase, ‘let it go,’ is both troubling, mystifying and sort of understandable at another level. He clearly can’t get over the fact that she got a lot more votes than he did.” Listen to more of the discussion here with Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist. Only on MSNBC.
MSNBC justice and security analyst Matthew Miller and Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle respond with disgust to the revelation in Michael Wolff’s new book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” that President Donald J. Trump called former acting Attorney General Sally Yates the “c-word” during a conversation with his former chief strategist Steve Bannon. Barnicle says Yates is “a truly noble, heroic figure who was acting attorney general and had the courage to go into the White House and say: ‘Hey, you better watch out for Mike Flynn because he is subject to blackmail’.” Listen in to the conversation about how Yates tried to help the White House and was unceremoniously terminated for her service.
Listen in as Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle talks with Brian Klaas, author of “The Despot’s Accomplice: How the West is Aiding and Abetting the Decline of Democracy,” about how the dysfunctional and erratic Trump Presidency is changing the way the U.S. is perceived on the global stage and what it means for our democracy. Only on MSNBC.
As the Morning Joe panelists discuss journalist Michael Wolff’s explosive new book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” documenting the first year of President Donald J. Trump’s presidency and revealing bombshells about his Administration, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle comments: “The White House now no longer has staff members. The White House now has only witnesses….We now have a preponderance of evidence that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, is simply unfit to be president.” Listen to more of the conversation here only MSNBC.
Listen in to the exchange between Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham about the “national experiment” and unprecedented waters President Donald Trump is wading in as he taunts North Korean President Kim Jong Un with a tweet that his “Nuclear Button” is “much bigger & more powerful” than the one controlled by President Jong Un. Only on MSNBC.
During the Morning Joe conversation about President Donald J. Trump’s schoolyard Twitter war of words with North Korean President Kim Jong Un, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle says: “It’s uncomfortable to talk about, but the President of the United States puts stability on the table as an issue. Issuing a tweet like that, potentially talking about nuclear war, I mean, come on.” Listen to more of the discussion here.
Continuing the Morning Joe conversation with Human Rights Foundation Chairman and chess champion Garry Kasparov, who has a new masterclass on chess, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks: “If America takes that masterclass, how do we go after Russia’s weakness, their economy?” Hear Kasparov’s response about strategy being the biggest advantage of democracy over dictatorship.
“Putin has used the instruments of his government to diminish democracy’s role in the world, diminish America’s role in the world. He has successfully sowed chaos in the American political system, the American political structure. How do we defend against that?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Human Rights Foundation Chairman Garry Kasparov, who joins the Morning Joe panel to talk about Russian President Vladimir Putin as the “merchant of doubts”. Listen to Kasparov’s response here about Putin’s opportunistic approach to disturb the balance of the status quo.
“Mrs. Simonds, could you give us a thumbnail description of your district, the district that you ran in, in ’15 and then the district that you won this year? And what do you attribute the energy, the source of energy, in terms of voter turnout for you this year?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Democrat Shelly Simonds, who won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates after defeating Republican incumbent David Yancey by one vote to represent the town of Newport News. Listen to Simonds’ response here about the number of voters under the age of 40 she saw on Election Day this year.
“Look, Obama’s first year, first two years, we were digging ourselves, Noah, out of the worst economic situation since the depression,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle to Commentary associate editor Noah Rothman as the Morning Joe panel talks about the status of the American economy under President Donald Trump compared to former President Barack Obama. Listen to the conversation here with Rothman and Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist.
“The exhaustion factor in all of this: The level of exhaustion that this presidency, that this Congress, that this political system has brought to all of us and especially to ordinary people. The DACA debate…is just one more level of dysfunction brought to the American people each and every day. Bill Belichick tells all of his football players, ‘just do your job.’ We have 535 people in Washington. Many of them who do not know how to do their job…to come up with sensible solutions for everyday problems….Can’t get that done? Get out, get out. That’s where we are,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the Morning Joe panel talks about a Washington Post report that indicates Democrats are backing away from a pledge to force a vote on DACA, angering activists but likely preventing a government shutdown at a critical moment in spending negotiations with Republicans and President Donald J. Trump. Listen in on the discussion here.
“We’re going to find out about the impact of this tax bill within a fairly reasonable period of time….What’s going to happen to the money that corporations make? Are they going to hire more people? Or, more importantly, over the next six months to a year, if you’re out there, you’re making $75,000, $90,000, you’ve got a couple of kids. Are you going to see an immediate impact, a change in your life due to this tax cut in your paycheck that you get every week or every two weeks?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the Morning Joe panel talks about the GOP tax reform bill. Listen to more of the discussion here.
“The other aspect of this bill that is really threatening to the way laws are passed, the way this country survives and prospers, is the increased and continuing polarization that surrounded this bill and the idea that one particular party, the Republican Party, went out of its way to remove 13 million people from the health rolls, and are proud of it, and the fact that there were no real hearings on the bill, no real communication back and forth between Republicans and Democrats on a generation altering tax bill. It’s really a continuation of a system that has to be improved. It has to be addressed or else we’re going to be in even bigger trouble than we are in today,” explains veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the Morning Joe panel talks about the GOP tax reform, which will add up to $1.5 trillion to America’s debt. Listen to more of the discussion here.
“This is a never-ending investigation. (The President’s lawyers) are not going to go in there later this week and ask for and get from (Special Counsel Robert) Mueller’s team the idea that this investigation is going to end quickly,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as the Morning Joe panel talks about an upcoming meeting between White House lawyers and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s office and an NBC News report showing the FBI last year warned then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump that foreign adversaries, including Russia, would likely try to spy on and infiltrate his campaign. Listen to more of the discussion here with NBC’s Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist and Carol Lee.
Tune in as Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle asks Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) about the GOP tax plan and who in his district stands to win and who stands to lose. “What would lead you to believe from recent history, past history, from today, from reality, that this sudden boon to so many corporations, to hedge funds, to private equity funds as contained in this tax bill, (means) that they’re going to turn around and start hiring people?” Listen to Brady’s response here.
During the Morning Joe review of President Donald Trump’s speech on national security strategy, veteran columnist Mike Barnicle comments: “One line, specifically, I found to be upsetting in talking about past administrations and therefore past presidents: ‘They lost their belief in American greatness’.” Hear the panelists reaction to Trump’s speech and what he won’t learn from his predecessors.
“Congressman, the President has hailed this tax bill as one of the great achievements of the 21st century. It’s going to change lives, change middle class lives. So, let’s go to Oklahoma City and you tell me who does better under this tax bill: Chesapeake Energy, Continental Resources, both companies housed in Oklahoma City, or a family of four making about $75,000 a year. Who does better?” asks veteran columnist Mike Barnicle of Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) during a conversation about the GOP tax plan. Listen to Cole’s optimistic response here. Only on MSNBC.
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.
