Joe Scarborough doesn’t think much of the idea of President Michael Avenatti, telling his audience on Monday that the attorney representing Stormy Daniels and Kavanaugh accuser Julie Swetnick acted more like a cartoon lawyer than a presidential candidate.
“He sounded like Lionel Hutz on ‘The Simpsons’ last night,” he said speaking of a lengthy interview Avenatti gave to MSNBC anchor Kasie Hunt. “He was advertising his law firm on your show more than it seemed he was running for president, but we shall see.”
Scarborough — a lawyer himself — then did his best impression of a fast talking, “if you’ve been injured,” Lionel Hutz-esque tort attorney.
Once one of the most beloved and regularly occurring member of the Simpsons universe, the character of Lionel Hutz was retired after the death of actor Phil Hartman, who voiced him for the show. He hasn’t been seen in an episode since Season 12.
Avenatti, a TV hungry attorney who has been likened to a Democratic Trump, has made no secret of his presidential ambitions, teasing the prospect very publicly and already making pilgrimages to key primary states.
“People are very enthusiastic about the potential of me running and if there’s a need I’m going to run because there’s too much at stake in 2020,” he told Don Lemon just weeks ago. “The Democrats cannot afford to take the approach they’ve taken in elections past and nominate someone who is not a fighter.”
As Stormy Daniels fades from headlines, Avenatti has persisted in the news, prominently taking on a client, Julie Swetnick, now accusing Judge Kavanaugh of participating in gang rapes during drunken parties in the early 1980s.
Kavanaugh has categorically denied all allegations against him and the Senate Judiciary Committee has so far dismissed the Avenatti claims. An FBI probe launched on Friday has no plan to investigate Swetnick — for now.