Scarborough on poll showing Trump beating Biden: ‘It’s a joke’

MSNBC pundit Joe Scarborough mocked the chatter over a Washington Post poll showing former President Trump would beat President Biden, calling the negativity over the incumbent “a joke.” 

“And Biden, always underestimated his entire life, always mocked and ridiculed, and the guy somehow keeps winning so that’s why when I see poll like this … the 9 [points] … and I literally started laughing out loud,” Scarborough said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday. “I put it down … and had my Sunday morning walk, because it’s a joke, but it continues.” 

A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday found Biden trailing Trump by 9 points, 51 percent to 42 percent. The finding raised some eyebrows, as other recent polling shows the two candidates in a dead heat.

In discussing the poll, Scarborough read from former NBC senior political analyst Mark Halperin’s newsletter, in which the commentator pointed to the past mockery and underestimating of Biden.

“Biden’s not going to lose by 9 points,” Scarborough said. “There’s a close race, and there are warning signs there. I will say though, I’m a little tired of it. I’m a little tired of three years hearing about how Joe Biden is going to get crushed — ‘He is going to get crushed in 2020, he and the Democrats [are going] to get crushed in 2022, there’s going to be a red wave, there’s no way he can pass bipartisan legislation.'”

In its poll analysis, the Post said Trump’s strong lead is “significantly at odds with other public polls that show the general election contest a virtual dead heat,” a difference that suggests the data point is likely an outlier.

Gary Langer, a public opinion researcher, pointed out in an ABC News analysis that question order or message-sending could have played a factor in the results. 

An NBC poll also released Sunday showed the candidates in a dead heat at 46 percent among registered voters. The latest YouGov/Yahoo News poll released last week similarly found them tied at 44 percent among registered voters.