On Tuesday morning’s episode of Morning Joe, hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski discussed in various segments the ongoing scandal haunting New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. As it was announced on Monday that there are more subpoenas issued in relation to the investigation into Bridgegate, it was definitely newsworthy enough for the show to highlight. However, as anyone who has watched this show can attest to, both Mika and Joe have been unabashed apologists of the embattled Governor since this scandal saw the light of day, defending him at every opportunity.
However, it appears that they may have reached the end of the line with Christie on Monday, when both hosts were openly upset and shocked about new revelations in the Christie investigation. After reading the headline of a story in The Star-Ledger detailing that Christie never actually read the email that was sent out to his supporters discrediting David Wildstein, Brzezinski and Scarborough just completely lost all composure. It was at that moment that they realized that Christie really is the liar he has been portrayed as all along during this ongoing affair.
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The Daily Kos captured the moment perfectly with the following GIF:
That is just GOLD. These two, and especially Joe, have been constantly arguing with others and defending their friend Chris Christie to the point of taking away any and all credibility they may have had. At that moment, they saw it come back and slap them hard in the face. Even though this GIF is not from Monday’s show, it still helps capture the moment perfectly. Just look at Joe cry.
Anyway, come Tuesday, it was obvious that Mika was just shell-shocked when it came to anything regarding Christie and she just gave a half-hearted effort when discussing him during the show. As for Joe, he still tried to defend Christie, but also had to defend what he had said after his little crying stint on Monday, which was that Christie needed to step down as head of the Republican Governors Association.
So, throughout the show, Scarborough did his best to somewhat defend Christie and still try to give him the benefit of the doubt that everyone else is wrong and that Christie is the only one telling the truth. For example, at the beginning of the show, when they opened up discussing the possibility that Christie actually took a helicopter ride with Wildstein to observe the traffic jam that they caused, Joe just tried to throw sarcasm around in an effort to dismiss the report.
Later on, when talking with Chuck Todd and Eugene Robinson about the possibility of Christie stepping down as head of the RGA, Scarborough once again tried to defend Christie while justifying his position on Monday. Basically, he stated that Christie can step down for a short period of time and then come back later. He also said he still believes in Christie. However, he still stated that the Governor is a distraction and has to go away.
Chris Christie has now lost his biggest and most ardent defender and apologist in Joe Scarborough. No matter how much Scarborough tries to make it seem that he still believes Christie or that he feels this is all overblown, his reaction on Monday told everything. He knows Chris Christie is lying. Mika knows it. The New Jersey Governor has nobody left in the media carrying his water. Republicans don’t want to be seen with him. It’s over for him.
ETA: Below is a video clip from Monday’s show. You can see how upset both Mika and Joe are about the news surrounding Christie.
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
