Joe Scarborough tore into Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin on Wednesday’s “Morning Joe,” blasting the party head for the Democrats’ botched 2024 election autopsy and his lackluster fundraising efforts ahead of the midterms.
After discussing Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s primary win against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, which Scarborough argued could set up Democrats for success in November, the “Morning Joe” co-host pivoted to Martin, expressing doubt that he could lead his party to victory in competitive elections this fall.
“Let’s just talk about how bad of a DNC chair Ken Martin is, and let’s just talk about how crazy the Democratic Party is, that in times that they should be striking up the ol’ FDR ‘Happy Days Are Here Again,’” he said, referring to the Democrat’s campaign song for the 1932 presidential election. “They’ve got a 20% approval rating, and they’re getting completely blown away in fundraising.”
At the end of March, the DNC reported $22.1 million in cash on hand with $18.4 million in debt, while the Republican National Committee reported $116.8 million in its coffers with zero debt. According to Scarborough, this is because “nobody trusts Ken Martin or the DNC to give any money” to the committee.
Recommended
The MS NOW host questioned why Martin was chosen to lead the party after the 2024 election, instead of Democratic figures with what he argued was a proven track record of success, including former Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler and former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who also previously ran the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
“Rahm wins,” Scarborough added. “And I know a lot of Democrats hate that. I know they hate doing the smart thing, but my God, [Martin] is so horrible at his job.”
However, despite intense criticism, there appears to be no real effort from inside the DNC to unseat Martin. Paraphrasing a quote some have attributed to Germany’s Otto von Bismarck, Scarborough remarked that there was a “divine providence” that “protects fools, drunkards and the Democratic Party — and in this case, Ken Martin.”
You can watch Scarborough’s full comments in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”