On Tuesday's edition of Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and his panel discussed the 2010 midterm elections and trashed Republican candidate Sharron Angle as a "mental patient" and a "jackass."
The conversation, which included Chris Matthews and Mike Barnicle, began with MSNBC contributor Mark Halperin claiming Angle is "vulnerable" in the race because "she has extreme positions that are out of step with the mainstream."
Barnicle asserted that Angle was "embarrassing" to the residents of Nevada and "sounds like a mental patient." After this incident, Chris Matthews began to quote Angle's radio interview with Lars Larson asserting, "She understands why people think of and resort to Second Amendment solutions to the Democrats in Congress they don't like."
Here's the remark in full:
You know, our Founding Fathers, they put that Second Amendment in there for a good reason and that was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. And in fact, you know, Thomas Jefferson said it's good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years.
I hope that's not where we're going, but, you know, if this, this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies, they're saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around? And I'll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out.
Scarborough claimed, "Okay, what a jackass. Okay, that race is over. Let's head to a competitive race. Okay, Chris that race is over. Chris, that race is over. She is a jackass."
A transcript of the July 6, 2010 segment follows:
JOE SCARBOROUGH: A race that I have been basically putting to the side saying that it is a Republican pickup: Harry Reid. Harry Reid more unpopular in the state of Nevada than John Ensign who has been involved in a slow motion sex scandal for the past 18 months and yet Reid is still more unpopular in his home state and yet he may win.
MARK HALPERIN: I make him the favorite today. He could never win a referendum up or down. Do you want Harry Reid to stay as your Senator, despite that he is so powerful? He said from the beginning his people knew, if it's a choice between him and the alternative, he can win. he's locked into an alternative named Sharron Angle who is vulnerable across the board
SCARBOROUGH: Tell me why, is this because you hate tea-partiers?
HALPERIN: No I love the activism of the Tea Party people and their commitment to try to change America. She has extreme positions that are out of step with the mainstream.
SCARBOROUGH: Like what?
HALPERIN: She's for abolishing social security, the Department of Education. She favors the Yucca Mountain nuclear depository in her state which is about a 70/30 issue against her. She's not shown a prime time ability to raise money and she's not shown a prime time ability to walk back some of these positions.
SCARBOROUGH: The bigger problem for her is the fact that she went to Washington a couple of weeks ago. She went to New York. She went to raise money and all of the people, and I had the Republican Party saying I was too radical back in '94. And so nobody would give me any money. I went and talked to them. I'm like, dude, what's up? They are like, okay. He's okay. They started writing checks for me. It happened the opposite for her. She went there, they met her. Their hair fell out. They were horrified.
HALPERIN: They want to beat Harry Reid, but they don't want to bet on a loser.
SCARBOROUGH: They think she's a loser, the PAC community in Washington and DC this she's a loser
HALPERIN: Yep, that is what they think right now.
SCARBOROUGH: Mike Barnicle, not a lot of winners in 2010. But there seems to be two political stars. One, Scott Brown, Massachusetts. Two, Bill Clinton. Everything Bill Clinton touches right now, politically, turns to gold. Let's talk about Blanche Lincoln. He saved her in a tough primary. He saved her. Can he saver in a general election?
MIKE BARNICLE: No, I don't think so. Not in Arkansas. But, he has a touch that Barack Obama, for all the gifts that President Obama has, Bill Clinton has a touch politically that President Obama does not have. He just has an instinct, a scent for how to do it mechanically, politically.
SCARBOROUGH: Better than most.
BARNICLE: The thing that struck me about you were just talking about Nevada. You guys cover these things very professionally and you talk about them very professionally. But Harry Reid's opponent sounds like a mental patient. And nobody, I don't care whether you live in Nevada, Massachusetts or Arkansas, when you are voting, you don't want to be embarrassed by the person you are sending to Washington, DC. There's an element of her that is embarrassing, I think, for a resident of Nevada.
SCARBOROUGH: Hey, Chris Matthews, let's talk about Bill Clinton. We're talking about the winners of 2010. Chris Matthews in Washington, DC. Bill Clinton, you know Pennsylvania very well. Let's talk about how Bill Clinton can help Blanche Lincoln win the unwinnable race in Arkansas and also help a Democrat win in Pennsylvania 12, when Barack Obama is upside down on the approval ratings. How's he doing?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, I don't want to miss a chance, since Mike brought it up again, to rip the scab off Sharron Angle.
SCARBOROUGH: Ok, good lord.
MATTHEWS: Anybody who talks about using Second Amendment methods to deal with a Congress they don't like shouldn't be in the Congress. People talk about using gun play against politicians they don't like should try to remember Dallas and places like that.
SCARBOROUGH: What was her exact quote since it's been brought up twice?
MATTHEWS: She said she understands why people think of and resort to Second Amendment solutions to the Democrats in Congress they don't like. It is pretty frightening.
SCARBOROUGH: And what was her explanation of that? How did she try to walk that back?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: That's the problem.
MATTHEWS: Well, there isn't any walking back. She didn't try. She said the Second Amendment should be used to fight what they see as tyranny in Washington. It's used for armaments against the self-governments of the United States. These people treat Washington as if it's a colonial power somewhere off in the distance.
SCARBOROUGH: Stop here. I somehow missed this even though we do like an 18-hour show a day. Sharron Angle said that she wanted to use the Second Amendment solution?
MATTHEWS: She understands, yes why people resort, or think of resorting to Second Amendment solutions. You can Google it.
SCARBOROUGH: Okay, what a jackass. Okay, that race is over. Let's head to a competitive race. Okay, Chris that race is over. Chris, That race is over. She is a jackass.
MATTHEWS: No, she's running against Harry Reid.
SCARBOROUGH: I know, she is going to lose, if she is talking about people shooting.