Joe Scarborough Backs Jeb Bush Over Oprah: ‘He Would Have Been a Great President’

The host of “Morning Joe” says low energy is the way to go when it comes to a Commander in Chief

In the wake of Oprah mania, Joe Scarborough spent some time Tuesday bemoaning the lack of serious presidential candidates in the U.S. political system. In the process, the former GOP Congressman took a moment to extol the virtues of some lower-energy candidates, including Jeb Bush.

“Jeb was the best … governor and probably the best governing force I’ve ever come across in my life — extraordinary,” said the host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “He’s a bad candidate, well, he was a great governor and he would have been a great president.”

“I will offend everybody here, that’s fine,” he added with some wry self-awareness.

In the spirit of boring candidates, Scarborough also praised 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney as well as the 2008 Ambien-fueled presidential campaigns of senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd.

“Nobody wanted to pay attention to them because they were boring. They were creatures of Washington, and they both would have been pretty damn good presidents,” he said.

Scarborough’s line however was a decidedly minority opinion, particularly on his own network, which spent much of Monday singing the praises of Oprah Winfrey and the TV star’s potential as a candidate following her barnstorming Golden Globes speech on Sunday.

This tweet from Joy Reid was an early prelude to the channel’s breathless speculation.

Despite officially denying interest in public office (through her reps) back in October, Oprah has continued to spoke speculation about a possible run.

The chatter was further stoked when her longtime partner Stedman Graham casually told the Los Angeles Times that she “would absolutely do it.”

Despite her widespread popularity and estimated $3 billion fortune, a presidential run against Trump in 2020 would undoubtedly be a grinding years long slog against an opponent famous for dirty pugilism.

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