At Florida Atlantic, Joe Scarborough Pleads for Bipartisanship and Balks at Trump’s Agenda

Americans aren’t as divided as headlines suggest — they’re just not paying attention to the same news. That’s the message MSNBC host and former GOP congressman Joe Scarborough delivered to a packed Barry Kaye auditorium at Florida Atlantic University on Feb. 20. 

Forget the narrative that America is hopelessly split between conservatives and liberals. Scarborough says we’re living in a “50-50 nation,” where voters often cross party lines on the same ballot. 

“The same voters that elected Donald Trump elected Tammy Baldwin that day,” he said, pointing out that Wisconsin simultaneously voted for Trump last November while choosing a liberal lesbian senator who believes in gun control and reproductive rights.

Scarborough was the featured guest speaker at the annual Alan B. and Charna Larkin symposium at FAU, where he dismissed the idea of a strictly red or blue America.

“It is so multifaceted. It’s very easy to make these sort of lazy assumptions, which Americans do because the media does, because politicians want you to believe that,” he said. “We’re not a red nation, we’re not a blue nation. We’re a plaid nation.”

Scarborough, the co-host of  “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, criticized media outlets for tending to focus on political drama rather than the economic issues that matter most to voters.

“People weren’t focusing on [rhetoric] so much as they were on the price of their groceries, price of gas,” he said, referring to the recent presidential election and the fact that post-COVID grocery costs soared by over 20%.

He warned the audience about the dangers of media overload, noting that many Americans feel overwhelmed by the volume of information.

“Friends of mine say, ‘I'm just so overwhelmed… There's so much information. I just don't know who to believe anymore. I just stopped following the news,’” he said. 

Discussing President Donald Trump’s campaign messaging as an example of broader confusing media posts, Scarborough questioned how Trump plans to control inflation when his own tariffs contribute to rising costs. 

“How will he achieve his goals, and if he does fail, how do you think he will spin his media presence to make it seem like a positive thing for our country?” he said. “I mean, he’ll distract. He'll talk about things like taking Greenland from Denmark, taking Gaza from the Palestinians, taking Canada from Canada.”

Reflecting on his time in Congress, Scarborough noted the importance of working across party lines. He recalled working with President Bill Clinton’s administration despite their opposing parties.

“Together, we balanced the budget four years in a row, the first time that happened in a century,” he said. “We passed welfare reform. We extended the life of Medicare… and the economy created over 20 million jobs.”

He also pointed to the halcyon days of bipartisanship, using the relationship between Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neill and Republican President Ronald Reagan as an example. 

“They would politically beat the hell out of each other until six o'clock at night, and at six o'clock at night, they became friends,” he said, citing that O’Neill would visit the White House to share drinks and stories with Reagan. 

He said Americans should elect leaders who are willing to work across the aisle.

“I was considered a right-wing nut when I got elected to Congress, I will tell you, I didn't spend a day sitting with Republicans,” he said. “I walked in, I went over and I made friends with Democrats because…I wanted to learn.”

Running as a Republican in a traditionally Democratic district in Florida’s Panhandle at the age of 29, Scarborough recalled telling his parents about his candidacy. 

“My dad looked at me, looked down at his shoes, looked back up, and he said, ‘Well, that's great, Joey, but I'm voting for Earl,” he said, eliciting laughter from the audience.

Despite the skepticism, Scarborough won that 1994 race with 62% of the vote, becoming the first Republican elected in his district since 1873.

Scarborough stressed the need for civic engagement beyond partisan politics. 

“We’ve got to get engaged, to stay engaged, not just in politics, but more engaged in our civic organizations. We’ve got to figure out how to bring this country together and socialize more,” he said. 

He reminded attendees that political shifts are only temporary. Using Barack Obama’s presidency as an example, he mentioned how conservatives panicked when Obama won in 2008, only for the Tea Party to stage a conservative resurgence two years later. 

 “I lived on the Upper West Side. I had to go hug all my left-wing friends,” he said. “It goes back and forth and back and forth.”

This constant shifting, he argued, is why it’s important to not read too much into any one election. 

“Don’t overgeneralize. Don't think that the last election tells us what the future holds for the next decade, or the next 20 or 30 years. It's always so much more complicated than what you see in the news and what politicians want you to believe,” he said. 

Scarborough is worried about Trump’s recent actions in office, arguing he is “pushing the boundaries of his presidential authority.”

“In less than a month, he has frozen congressionally appropriated money. He's illegally fired inspector generals…he's fired leaders of independent agencies. He's abolished USAID, which is a congressionally mandated agency. He's demanding control of other independent agencies, and he signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship, [which is] guaranteed by our 14th amendment,” he said. 

He added that even some Republican senators are quietly expressing concern. 

“These are difficult times,” Scarborough said. “I've had Republican senators at receptions, going, ‘What the hell's going on?’ I'm like, ‘Dude, your party, not mine anymore.’”