Politics

Kristol to Scarborough: You’ll run in 2016 to ‘fill the Jon Huntsman lane’ [VIDEO]

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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Bill Kristol played the role of mischief maker on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Thursday.

Prompted by host Joe Scarborough, Kristol tallied off the nine Republicans he thinks will be finalists for the 2016 Republican nomination — and one of the nine was Scarborough himself.

“Why would you put Joe on that list?” show co-host Mika Brzezinski asked.

“He’s a former elected official. He’s got a real following out there. He’ll fill the Jon Huntsman lane,” Kristol said with a wry smile, eliciting cackles from Scarborough.

After his failed 2016 presidential run, Huntsman has become a punchline for many conservatives.

“OK, I’ll never be on the show again,” Kristol predicted.

“I love Jon Huntsman, it’s just coming from you that’s like waving a bloody flag to conservatives,” Scarborough said.

Even if he was kidding, Kristol isn’t the first to suggest Scarborough could be a 2016 presidential contender. In 2012, historian Douglas Brinkley raised the prospect in Vanity Fair.

“After the presidential inauguration in January, Joe… plans on publishing a memoir that will serve—no joke—as a vehicle to test the waters for a presidential run in 2016,” he wrote.

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Jamie Weinstein