Media

MSNBC’s Scarborough hits O’Rourke on his message: ‘It’s all goop’

by Joe Concha - 03/18/19 11:37 AM ET

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough mocked 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke for not having a clear message for his campaign, calling it “goop.”

The commentary from the former GOP congressman comes after O’Rourke, who ran a tough but unsuccessful race against Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in deep-red Texas in the 2018 midterms, launched his candidacy last week. He joins a crowded field of at least 13 other candidates.

“I got his message. It’s: ‘Look, you wanna see it?’ ” co-host Mika Brzezinski said to a “Morning Joe” panel while rolling up her sleeves. “ ‘I’ll roll up my sleeves and the camera zooms in, and I look really busy.’ I want to know what his message is! What’s his platform? What’s he going to do for this country?”{mosads}

“The thing is, he doesn’t have a message right now. It’s all goop,” Scarborough later added.

President Trump also took a shot at O’Rourke following his entrance into the race. “I think he’s got a lot of hand movement. I’ve never seen so much hand movement,” Trump told reporters, referring to O’Rourke’s campaign launch video. “I said, ‘Is he crazy or is that just the way he acts?’ I watched him a little while this morning, during I assume it was some kind of a news conference, and I’ve actually never seen anything quite like it.”

O’Rourke’s official campaign website currently directs visitors to a fundraising page, but does not include a platform or policy proposal page.

O’Rourke, 46, reportedly raised more than $6.1 million in just 24 hours after announcing his candidacy on Thursday, the highest of any of the other candidates to officially declare thus far.

In his Senate race against Cruz in 2018, O’Rourke was able to raise more than $80 million, which far outpaced any other Senate candidate.

Cruz would go on to win by 2.6 points, but the close race immediately fueled speculation around a possible residential run for O’Rourke.

Tags Beto O'Rourke Donald Trump MSNBC Ted Cruz