Donald Trump's debacles this week during the Republican National Convention should work against his White House campaign — but they probably won't, "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough said Thursday.
"Trump has not only survived the chaos he has created," Scarborough said in an op-ed piece in
The Washington Post. "He has thrived in the swirling storm of increasingly bizarre controversies stirred up by the candidate himself."
Noting the various debacles during the campaign, ranging from insulting Arizona Sen. John McCain's war record to battling Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, the MSNBC host mused about those that have occurred since the convention began on Monday in Cleveland.
"Day One at the Quicken Loans Arena started with an ugly floor fight that saw Trump forces ramrodding rules through a divided convention," he said. "That night, Melania Trump dazzled the GOP crowd there until it was discovered that her speech borrowed many of its most moving lines from Michelle Obama.
"Day Two was consumed by the campaign’s clumsy handling of the plagiarism story and a jagged prime-time schedule, while Wednesday will be remembered in political circles for some time as the day Team Trump handed the convention hall’s microphone over to a bitter rival [Ted Cruz] who used his time to launch his next campaign.
"Should Trump’s flurry of miscues doom his presidential run?" Scarborough asked. "Of course.
"But polls taken this week seem to suggest that what Americans want in a presidential campaign is not competence and consistency, but rather a reality-show spectacle that keeps them glued to their TVs.
"Perhaps the political professionals have it all wrong once again," he concluded. "Just maybe the best made-for-TV convention is the one where viewers are left wondering how the hell it’s all going to end."