‘It’s Midnight In America For Republicans’: Morning Joe’s Barnicle Woefully Laments ‘Darkness’ of GOP
MSNBC’s Mike Barnicle on Thursday offered a doleful lamentation on the Republican party and its “darkness” in contrast with past, more upbeat campaign messaging, and rebuked the party for fearing the “lights are about go out” on democracy.
On the latest Morning Joe, the co-hosts were enraged and upset about a Twitter video that was retweeted by a campaign Twitter account for Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, which the media has been referring to as an “ad”, calling it “homoerotic” and saying DeSantis is a “dark, dark, dark character.”
A few minutes later in the show, Barnicle referenced back to that discussion to make a point about the GOP as a whole, calling the whole thing “extraordinarily depressing” because “it portrays the state of American politics largely conducted by one party, the Republican Party, in this country.”
Barnicle asked rhetorically, “whatever happened to Morning in America? Ronald Reagan’s great campaign slogan in either 80 or 84 or whenever it was, when he attempted to put a smile on America’s face?”
“Now the Republican Party contrives each and every day and each and every candidate, each and every candidate, to put a scowl on America’s face,” he said. “It’s midnight in America for the Republicans.”
Barnicle characterized Republican messaging as saying “America is at its end” or that “The lights are about to go out on our democracy,” which message he now thinks is negative and upsetting.
Although that message has not always been unwelcome on MSNBC, not by a longshot.
Barnicle then turned from woe over the Republicans being negative and critical to negatively criticizing Republicans for what they’ve “done to this country” and having “basically voided the First Amendment.”
He concluded by saying Republicans are “against” defending democracy and that the “darkness” of the GOP continues to develop.
You know, Willie, the past 8 to 10 minutes of this discussion has been extraordinarily depressing because it portrays the state of American politics largely conducted by one party, the Republican Party, in this country. And it makes you wonder, whatever happened to ‘Morning in America’? Ronald Reagan’s great campaign slogan in either 80 or 84 or whenever it was, when he attempted to put a smile on America’s face?
And now the Republican Party contrives each and every day and each and every candidate, each and every candidate, to put a scowl on America’s face. It’s midnight in America for the Republicans. America is at its end. The diminishment of America is obvious to everyone, they tell us. The lights are about to go out on our democracy, they continue to tell us.
They have all of these contrived ads that, this sanctimonious ad that you just showed, you have several candidates, they can’t wait to out-negative the other candidate on a stage, a platform, or in a Q&A.
And you keep wondering, when is America going to, when are Americans going to say, what is wrong with these people? What has happened to this country in the sense of what the Republicans have done to this country? You can take the MAGA judges, you can take the judge down in Louisiana who recently just basically voided the First Amendment of this country – just per perhaps voided it.
You can take the comments of any of the candidates, almost all of the candidates, and they’ve got something terrible to say about this country on an everyday basis. They’re attacking the FBI. They’re attacking the Department of Justice. They attack the American military. We’re wrong to be in Ukraine, to stand up for democracy and for the liberty and the freedom of a specific country in Europe, Ukraine.
They’re against all of that. And the darkness is slowly starting to develop.
Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.
