interviews with Semafor and ABC News that he was not showing off classified documents after being heard in an audio clip first published by CNN referring to “highly confidential” material and “secret information” that he could no longer declassify. He now is claiming the pile of documents on his desk were “plans for construction” while constantly attempting to drive home the point that he had a lot of papers on his desk. “He did yesterday and the day before, and the day before that what he does best: He lies, he lies about everything. Of course, everyone is going to believe that these were plans just to build a new pro shop at the Bedminster golf club. But, it is who he is, and we continue to cover it every single day—this parade of lies coming from a former president of the United States,” says Barnicle.
Tune in for this Morning Joe conversation with author Sally Jenkins about her new book “The Right Call: What Sports Teach Us About Work and Life,” an inspirational and informative look at great athletes who were made not born, who succeed by obsessing over their failures and who practice in the face of resistance—important lessons for us all. “But what about those handful of athletes…who know instinctively they have a gift that just separates them from everyone else?” asks Barnicle. Hear Jenkins’ answer here.
“There’s no surprise left in Donald Trump—no matter what he does, no matter what he says, it’s no longer surprising. It’s no longer shocking. He’s removed that from the way we live, the way we exist each and every day,” said Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle during this conversation with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist and Katty Kay about the exhaustion factor surrounding former President Donald Trump, who has been hit with a 37-count federal indictment, including charges of willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements. Watch the discussion here.
“You know, Joe, I used to love waking up almost every morning of my life with a smile on my face. And for the first time in my life, and I say this completely honestly—I’m older than everyone here at the table. I now wake up on the verge of despondency nearly every day—just briefly but nearly every day,” said Morning Joe contributor Mike Barnicle. “And the Jonathan Turley appearance reminded me of something I’ve wondered about for days now, months now, actually: Where are the legitimate voices to stand in protest over what’s been done to the Presidency of the United States—to the office of the Presidency, to the Constitution, to the structure of our government, to the feel for our country. Where are the legitimate voices?” Watch the Morning Joe segment here with Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist, Mika Brzezinski and Mike Barnicle as they discuss Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley’s take on the 37-count federal indictment against former President Donald Trump, which includes charges of willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.
Morning Joe’s Willie Geist, Elise Jordon, Jonathan Lemire and Mike Barnicle discuss newly announced 2024 Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie declaring that former President Donald Trump disappointed the country and the GOP and that Christie’s campaign will focus on Trump’s record in office, following federal prosecutors having informed Trump’s legal team that he is a target of their investigation into his handling of classified documents after he left office. “What does the Republican Party do with this dilemma called Donald J. Trump?” asks Barnicle. Watch the conversation here.
Tune in for this Morning Joe conversation with Mika Brzezinski, Mike Barnicle and Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) about the “Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act” (SHIP Act), legislation that Moskowitz and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) have introduced in Congress to impose new sanctions targeting those who assist the Iranian regime in ducking U.S. sanctions over oil. “On the shipping aspect of this bill, is there anything to the fact that it seems that it’s difficult to track ships these days? There are ghost ships….Is that part of the dilemma here with regard to shipping Iranian oil—finding the ships who are being used to ship the oil?” asks Barnicle.
Morning Joe’s Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle discuss PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan defending the process behind the PGA Tour’s controversial merger with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf. “This is a really bad look for Jay Monahan….I don’t think this is good for golf other than the money play. The money play obviously is extremely attractive to both the PGA members and the LIV guys; they’ve already gotten their money. But it’s not a good look,” says Barnicle about the PGA merger with LIV Golf. Watch the segment here.
Watch this Morning Joe segment with Mika Brzezinski and Mike Barnicle as they talk with Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg about reports that indicate federal prosecutors have informed the legal team for former President Donald J. Trump that he is a target of their investigation into his handling of classified documents after he left office, as special counsel Jack Smith is presenting evidence currently before a Florida grand jury in addition to a panel in Washington, D.C. What might happen next?
Watch this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Mike Barnicle about new reports that reveal Special counsel Jack Smith has obtained a 2021 recording in which Donald Trump appears to brag about having a classified document related to Iran, suggesting the former president understood both the legal and security concerns around his possession of such restricted information. “It’s going to shape up, I would think, from people who we’ve spoken to, as a defining moment, not only for the Republican Party but for the country because if the words espionage or treason are even hinted at in the filing documents when, and if, an indictment is brought against the former president, people are going to have to finally make up their minds. There’s got to be enough of this talking about, ‘oh, he’s a tough guy. I like how he talks, he’s a tough talker. And the stuff about the women, that it’s all made up. You know, they’re after him because he’s Donald Trump’—all that stuff. That’s going to go out the window,” says Barnicle. See the discussion here.
Tune in for this Morning Joe conversation with Jonathan Lemire, Mike Barnicle and GLAAD President/CEO Sarah Kate Ellis about the current anti-LGBTQ political sentiment that has led to a record 540-plus anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures and more than 220 bills that specifically target transgender and non-binary people. “These are obviously terribly turbulent cultural times, but was there a spark…a moment in the last ten years or so when there was such a violent and hysterical overreaction to drag shows, LGBTQ clothing?” asks Barnice. Hear Ellis’ response, as she explains “Whenever there’s progress, there is a snap back reaction to it.” Watch the segment here.
“(Donald) Trump runs this country down almost daily with one comment or another, one text or another. He runs the military down constantly and continually,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough about the “stupid” statements made about the military by the GOP, as “they go along with this slander. It’s political slander.”
ICYMI: Watch this Morning Joe conversation between veteran columnist Mike Barnicle and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) about the strong bipartisanship that emerged during the Senate panel hearing on the potential risks of artificial intelligence that Blumenthal kicked off with a cloned recording of his own voice. “If you closed your eyes, you probably couldn’t have told whether it was a Republican or Democrat asking the question or making making comments,” said Blumenthal. “And if you closed your eyes at the beginning of the hearing, you couldn’t have told that we were playing a voice clone of myself in introducing the hearing. It was eerie, even creepy….I think that it is one of the more scary moments in the United States Senate hearing history.”
Tune in for this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle as they discuss former President Donald Trump and his allies targeting and misrepresenting the function of the FBI, after special counsel John Durham, appointed by then-Attorney General William Barr, concluded at the end of a multi-year investigation that the FBI should not have launched a full investigation into connections between Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. “America is looking forward, going ahead. This is all rear-view mirror stuff. I don’t know how they (Republicans) thrive on this politically. I really don’t,” says Barnicle about the Durham report. Watch the conversation here.
Watch this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Mike Barnicle and retired Adm. James Stavridis about how the United States should approach its complicated relationship with China as the superpower rivalry between the two nations continues.
“The interesting thing is, we are doing now something that nobody else in America is doing: talking about Nikki Haley. I mean, she’s irrelevant to the conversation really, and she’s proven her irrelevance each and every day, each and every time she opens her mouth,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle as Mika Brzezinski and the Morning Joe panel discusses Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley—struggling to gain traction among GOP voters ahead of the primary elections—having suggested that President Joe Biden, 80, is likely to die in office if he is re-elected.
Tune in for this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle as they analyze and discuss the possible rematch in the 2024 presidential election between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. “Joe Biden is going to beat Donald Trump. He’s going to beat him like a drum….I don’t know how a guy goes to the country running for president of the United States who almost certainly will be carrying federal obstruction of justice charges against him, plus a couple other charges probably….How do you go to the country and win the presidency? I don’t see it,” says Barnicle about Trump, who was recently indicted in New York on more than 30 counts related to business fraud.
“He has the humility of an ordinary person….and he is very confident in his role as president. He knows what he’s doing. If people don’t think he knows what he’s doing, I refer you to what’s going on in Ukraine today. Ukraine has more allies today than would have been unthought of two years ago. Joseph R. Biden pulled that alliance together,” said veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski following President Biden’s official announcement that he will seek reelection. Watch the segment for more on Biden and his possible opponent in the in the 2024 presidential race.
Veteran columnist Mike Barnicle on President Joe Biden’s announcement of his 2024 bid for reelection: “His calmness, his deliberateness, his avoidance of calamity, his desire to calm this country down, and he’s going to walk us through it. He’s not going to run through it, and he’s going to be Joe Biden….He’s going to stand out in an age when people are yelling and screaming on both sides of the political aisle. And yet, here he is, ‘just the facts, ma’am’, calmly, deliberately, and pump the brakes on the riotous atmosphere that we cling to each and every day in the news,” says Barnicle during this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Claire McCaskill.
Join this Morning Joe panel discussion about the impacts of the decision by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, to order a hold on federal approval of the abortion pill mifepristone in a decision that overruled decades of scientific approval. “At ground level, what this means is: You’re taking something away from people—specifically women. You’re taking a right away that they have had for decades,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle.
“Seemingly we cover these things at least once or twice a week in America. You heard the heart ache from survivors of people who were shot and killed in Louisville. We see it all the time. Because of the nature of the news business, it’s so quick and swift, and things happen so rapidly, we move on from one incident to another, from one news story to another. But the ache, the heartache and the loss that was expressed in the clip that we just showed, that lasts forever, it affects a community forever. And it’s inexplicable why, as you point out, largely the Republican Party is responsible for standing in the way of any substantive progress, even the smallest elements of progress, in terms of getting control of this virus that is crippling America, the gun virus. It is truly inexplicable. There’s no way you can talk about it…There’s no way you can understand what their motives are. Are they that afraid of one outfit, the National Rifle Association? I mean, it’s inexplicable,” says Barnicle about the Republican Party’s unwillingness to pass gun safety legislation in the wake of yet another mass shooting this week at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, where a gunman opened fire and killed five people while injuring eight others, leaving multiple families devastated.
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.
