MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough continues to indicate that he is taking the prospect of running for president in 2016 seriously by giving speeches in more early primary states.
Just last week, Scarborough made the trek from New York City to Greenville, South Carolina to speak at the South Carolina Automotive Council’s yearly summit.
A schedule for the event indicates that Scarborough addressed attendees during a morning speech at the The Hyatt Hotel in Greenville on Feb. 20.
Scarborough’s visit to South Carolina, the location of the “First in the South” primary, follows The Daily Caller’s report earlier this month that it’s widely believed at MSNBC — including among network brass — that Scarborough is actively mulling a presidential bid. (RELATED: Joe Scarborough believed to be taking the idea of a 2016 presidential run seriously)
“He sounded pretty presidential,” one attendee at the South Carolina Automotive Council event told TheDC of Scarborough’s remarks.
Scarborough took the day off work on Feb. 20 to deliver the speech. He wasn’t on Morning Joe that day.
If he continues to test the waters, Scarborough might run into problems with his bosses back in New York. Networks have been known to cut ties with hosts once they get serious about running for office.
“Comcast continues to fund Scarborough’s presidential exploratory committee,” one Scarborough observer quipped, referring to NBC’s parent company. “Does Comcast also support Mika for VP?”
The host of “Morning Joe” has more trips scheduled to early primary states in the upcoming weeks. He is set to address the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference the weekend of Mar. 14 to 15 in Nashua, N.H.
Scarborough has downplayed the possibility that he will run. But asked recently by radio host Hugh Hewitt if he was ruling it out, Scarborough said: “No, I won’t rule anything out. I’ve always said and I’ve always been open about the fact that the greatest job I ever had and the greatest honor I’ve ever had was being in the House of Representatives.”