'He's not really that stupid': Morning Joe flattens DeSantis' latest pitch to MAGA voters

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough jumped all over Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) on Friday morning for his promise to look into issuing pardons for Jan. 6 rioters should he be successful in his bid to be elected president in 2024.

Kicking off Friday's "Morning Joe," the host pointed to a clip of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich talking about simplifying the GOP's message to which Scarborough added, "That was Newt Gingrich encouraging Ron DeSantis to get on the level of third graders -- I'm not joking. You know, kind of like Donald Trump does."

Turning to DeSantis, he played a clip of the Florida Republican talking about pardoning the insurrectionists while on a radio show on Thursday.

It was at that point that he expressed disgust with DeSantis for pandering to Trump's MAGA base in an effort to peel some of them away.

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"I mean, he's not really that stupid," the MSNBC host suggested. "Maybe he's talking like a third grader."

"We're talking about people who tried to overthrow American democracy," he exclaimed. " Ron knows that -- he knows that! Yet, he's playing that game."

Watch the video below or at this link.

MSNBC 05 26 2023 06 00 28youtu.be