Following a panel discussion on MSNBC's "Morning Joe' over whether Donald Trump will make appearances at the Republican party's 2024 presidential debates, host Joe Scarborough wondered what could derail the Trump train headed to the general election in November.
After pointing to a number of scandals dogging the former president, as well as his part in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection, longtime political insider and "Morning Joe" regular Mike Barnicle said that the media needs to step up.
Pointing to the Trump town hall on CNN next week, Scarborough prompted, "This is a question that people are going to have to be answering over the next year and a half because it looks like Donald Trump will be the nominee of the Republican party. It's way too early to tell but certainly doesn't look like he has any comers right now that will be strong enough."
"I will say upfront, I have known [CNN head] Chris Licht for a long time and he helped us start the show," he continued. " A lot of people are talking about whether CNN should set up a town hall meeting with the likely GOP nominee because, you know, the guy is an insurrectionist and he tried to overthrow the United States government, and he's not just any other presidential candidate."
"There are people saying you don't provide that sort of normalcy and others are saying he's going to be the nominee," he added. "Where do you draw the line with an insurrectionist, and a guy that promotes violence, openly promotes violence? What does the media do?"
'You have him on and you press him on all the points you just raised," Barnicle shot back. "You don't give him any wiggle room. You don't let him do his 'bend the facts' routine, and you point out the fact that he did try and overthrow the American government, actively tried to overthrow it."
"You point out that he's a liar," he exclaimed. "You point out all the flaws and keep pointing them out. I don't know if you can do that in the context of a town hall meeting."
Watch the segment below or at this link.
MSNBC 05 03 2023 08 01 42youtu.be
