Scarborough apologizes for ‘disaster’ of 2020 Democratic debate on MSNBC

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough called the second night of the first 2020 Democratic debates a “disaster for the Democratic Party” and said that he hopes voters were not watching the face-off, which aired on his network.

“With apologies to our friends and watching, last night was a disaster for the Democratic Party,” Scarborough said Friday on “Morning Joe.” “My only hope is people were not watching and I will tell you why.”

He went on to jab the candidates for criticizing each other instead of focusing their ire on President Trump.

“So they’re lined up in trench warfare, ready to get out of the trenches and charge Donald Trump. Instead, they all turn their guns on each other and shoot each other, and everybody is yelling at each other all night,” Scarborough said Friday morning.

“If you’re an American and this is your introduction to these candidates and the Democratic Party, and all you see are 12 people yelling at each other, trying to interrupt each other, insulting each other, you’re like, ‘You know what. I thought Donald Trump was a clown show. I’m changing the channel.’” 

{mosads}Scarborough called former Vice President Joe Biden’s performance one of “the most disturbing debate performances” he had seen, and questioned Biden for sticking closely to the debate’s rules and not focusing more specifically on issues in his answers.

“It was one of those moments where you’re going, ‘My God, is he going to complete his sentence?’” Scarborough asked.

The host also accused Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) of not preparing for the debate and recycling tactics he used when he debated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

“Bernie Sanders was yelling all night. Bernie Sanders didn’t prepare for the debate,” Scarborough said. “It showed because he basically gave the same debate performances this year that he gave four years ago. It may have worked when it was Bernie Sanders against Hillary Clinton. It did not work last night.”

Scarborough also criticized the Democratic candidates for adopting a slate of progressive policy platforms, including decriminalizing border crossings and providing health insurance through a public option to undocumented immigrants, suggesting that they would not be able to beat Trump with that focus.

“It was a bad sign for me, as someone who desperately wants to see Donald Trump taken out of office,” Scarborough said.

He slammed Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) for calling out Biden on his history of opposing the policy of busing black students to predominately white schools. One of the most heated moments of the debate came as the California senator attacked Biden’s record on civil rights.

Scarborough said the “overwhelming majority of Americans” oppose busing as a means of integrating American schools. Fifty-nine percent of Americans opposed school busing in 2009, according to the Pew Research Center.