Donald Trump won't be taking part in the first Republican presidential debate this week in Milwaukee, and MSNBC's Joe Scarborough warned that his efforts to overshadow coverage of his rivals could backfire.
The former president has agreed to surrender to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, on Thursday, which could eclipse coverage of the previous evening's debate, and he has already conducted an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that would be aired on as-yet-unknown platform at the same time GOP candidates face off.
"It looks like, again, Donald Trump is doing everything he can to distract," said the "Morning Joe" host. "He is talking about this interview that he's going to be doing on Twitter, or X, whatever, but it'll be a four-day-old interview. Nobody is going to be watching that. I'm sorry – I'll take that back. Some may be watching it. A four-day old interview is not going to be news. I just wonder if it is going to, how much it is going to take away from the actual debate, but this will – Donald Trump knows that. The timing, the next morning after the debate will completely smother out any news from the debate."
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
However, recent interviews show some Republican voters are tired of hearing about Trump and his legal travails, so Scarborough wondered how effective his counter-programming would be.
"I've got to say, though, that cuts both ways," Scarborough said. "It eclipses them, but, you know, but [NBC News correspondent] Vaughn Hillyard, when he was talking to the voters in Iowa, had voters saying, 'I like Donald Trump, but it is time to move on, there's too much.' So they're going to see a debate of serious people on stage the night before talking policy, and the next day, they're going to see Donald Trump, you know, getting his mug shot, surrendering to authorities for the fourth time. I just wonder if that doesn't make the exhaustion for the people Vaughn talked to and other voters go up even higher."
Watch the segment below or at this link.
08 22 2023 06 14 47youtu.be
