Morning Blow: How Joe and Mika Became Trump’s Lapdogs
All-time great comedian Harry Shearer, the man who brought us voices from The Simpsons and cucumber-hoarding bass player Derek Smalls in This Is Spinal Tap, has broken an embarrassing story about us journalists.
In his Le Show podcast, he released audio of off-camera dialogue between Donald Trump and ostensible news figures Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of the MSNBC program Morning Joe. The tape covers breaks in a town hall segment the trio filmed in South Carolina last week.
The embarrassing part starts when Brzezinski compliments Trump on his campaign stagecraft. She comments that it was a “wow” moment when Trump invited onstage two meatheads who tossed a protester from one of his South Carolina events.
A side note: The vigorous physical expulsion of loser-protesters has become a predictable scene at Trump events. Every time I’ve seen it in person, it’s freaked me out — it’s like a window into some future WWE-style dissident-beheading ritual — but Mika apparently thought the video of the South Carolina incident was inspiring.
“You know what I thought was kind of a wow moment, was the guy you brought up on stage,” Mika says.
“We played it several times this morning!” adds a breathless Scarborough.
An approving Trump here verbally extends his ring to be kissed. “I watched your show this morning,” he says. “You have me almost as a legendary figure, I like that.”
If any politician ever said that to me, I would eat a cyanide capsule on the spot. Mika and Joe both seemed undisturbed.
Joe went on to apologize to Trump for having called the South Carolina debate wrong (he thought Trump lost). Next, Brzezinski thanked Trump for being on the show. Trump jokingly replied that he gets nothing out of their relationship, while she will get “great ratings and a raise.”
Trump goes on to say, “Just make us all look good.”
“Exactly,” says Scarborough.
In another moment, someone in studio suggests a question to ask Trump through Scarborough’s earpiece. “That’s a great question,” Scarborough says.
“What, the China?” Trump says. Trump had just been talking about China, so naturally he assumed that when Scarborough used the word “great,” he was referring to something he’d said.
“No, they’re telling me what to ask you,” Scarborough explains. He then pretends that the prospect of a tough question scares The Donald.
“Look at you. I see, he’s shaking,” Joe says.
“Yeah. Whatever,” Trump answers, with humorously obvious sincerity.
Scarborough, being playful, goes on to ask his mystery question: “When was the last time you golfed?”
Trump doesn’t get that Scarborough is play-asking him a “tough” question and instead gives a serious answer right out of a textbook on Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Trump explains that he played four days ago, but had to bow out of his outing with gorgeous 20-year-old pro Lexi Thompson because he was thinking too much about the whole running-for-president thing. “I played nine holes, I didn’t even want to play anymore,” he says sadly.