By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-07-20 20:46:57 | Updated at 2026-08-05 19:59:03
2 weeks ago
MS NOW host Joe Scarborough devoted a sizable chunk of Monday's Morning Joe to warning about the rise of Democratic Socialism within the Democratic Party.
Scarborough, 63, said the party was at risk of alienating voters if the support continues into the next Democratic presidential race.
'I mean, there have been some extraordinarily loony ideas coming from some of these people that have actually won races and are going to be seated in Congress, most likely,' the former Florida Republican said.
'Like, you know, getting rid of prisons, getting rid of cops.'
Scarborough said such policies 'didn't work well for Democrats before' and 'didn't work well for American cities, either.'
He warned that years of success seen since were at risk of becoming undone.
'America is getting safer again, in good part because both parties have come to the conclusion that police officers are a good thing,' the host proclaimed.
'Police officers make communities safer, make our children safer, make our schools safer.'
Joe Scarborough, 63, warned the Democratic Party was at risk of alienating voters on Monday's Morning Joe
He warned that success seen since the protests of the 'Defund the Police' movement in 2020 were at risk of becoming undone by 'extreme' Democratic Socialists currently being met with success in blue states
Scarborough admitted that the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) organization was just 'one extreme' of a political spectrum that's widened on both ends.
'I guess my question is why the Democratic Party is so ill equipped to deal with those extremes, brush them off, and instead focus on candidates that are mainstream who are going to end up winning most of these primaries.'
Scarborough's guest, frequent MS NOW contributor Ed Luce, agreed that the dynamic was 'a real problem.'
'There is an energy, an anti-establishment energy in the democratic party, that's been channeled a lot through the DSA, which is this- is an aging democratic establishment,' he explained
'I think the working class, the blue collars we’re talking about, the African Americans in South Carolina, none of this really speaks to them.'
Luce thus predicted that a proverbial boomerang would come back into party leaders' 'faces.' He singled out oyster farmer-turned-Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner as proof the party has been missing the mark.
Platner called off his campaign last week in the wake of rape allegations that he denies. He also had a tattoo recognized as a Nazi SS symbol earlier this year - a revelation not seen as damning to state leaders who endorsed.
'You have highly educated sort of plutocratic socialists selecting a guy they claim is blue collar, turns out he isn’t blue collar,' Luce said. 'Turns out he was grown in a vat.'
Graham Platner - who campaigned on 'Medicare for all' and housing affordability platforms in his ill-fated bid for the Maine - was singled out as proof the party has been missing the mark
Platner's abrupt exit left last-minute candidates like environmental policy consultant David Costello, former House Representative Elizabeth Dickerson, small business owner Dan Kleban and intersex author Ashley Webb to duke it out
Platner, while not a devout Democratic Socialist, campaigned on 'Medicare for all' and housing affordability.
His exit paved the way for 12 progressives - including intersex author Ashley Webb and small business owner Dan Kleban - to vie for his spot.
Webb cited her ability to write songs during last week's Democratic primary debate.
Scarborough compared the prospective climate come 2028 to the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, which included several progressive candidates who all, in the end, fell to Joe Biden.
'By the end, there are like 17 people on stage, most of them were calling for the return of bussing, they were talking about health care benefits, universal health care benefits for illegal immigrants when, you know, a good chunk of Americans were having trouble getting health care coverage.'
He recalled telling cohost Mika Brzezinski how he thought such messaging was 'crazy' at the time.
'Joe Biden stayed in the center, Joe Biden won.'
Scarborough conceded some far-left politicians - namely New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani - were 'great political athletes.'
Scarborough - a former Florida Republican - said progressives were better off with more moderate figures in their midst, singling out Joe Biden
Mamdani, due to being born outside of the US, is not eligible for the presidency.
Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, has danced around the idea of a presidential run.
Many have pegged her as the likely frontrunner for a hypothetical head-to-head against the many consider to be conservatives' best bet, Vice President JD Vance. Vance has not aired any plans to campaign in 2028, as of Monday.
