Joe Scarborough is a former politician, lawyer, and TV news host in the United States. From January 3, 1995, to September 5, 2001, he served as a “Republican” congressional representative in Florida’s 1st congressional district. He practiced law in Pensacola, Florida, before entering politics in 1994 as a “Republican Party” primary candidate. Scarborough has served on a number of committees as a member of Congress. In 2001, he resigned and began hosting shows for “MSNBC.” With his third wife, Mika Brzezinski, he co-hosted “Morning Joe.” “Time,” “The New York Times,” “USA Weekend,”. Scarborough became an independent in 2017 after being a staunch “Republican” for over two decades. His divisive take on President Donald Trump’s administration received extensive coverage in the media.
Childhood and Adolescence
Charles Joseph Scarborough was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 9, 1963, to Mary Joanna Clark and George Francis Scarborough. His father was a successful businessman. Scarborough grew up with two brothers and sisters.
He was a quarterback at Florida’s “Pensacola Catholic High School.” He then attended the “University of Alabama,” where he earned a BA in history in 1985. Scarborough then earned his Juris Doctorate from the “University of Florida College of Law” in 1990.
While in college, he played guitar, wrote songs, and produced CDs with the band “Dixon Mills.” In addition, he contributed to the album “Calling on Robert E. Lee.” Scarborough also worked as a football coach and a high school teacher before pursuing careers in law, politics, and the media.
Career
Scarborough began his legal career in Pensacola in 1991, after becoming a member of the “Florida Bar.” One of the most notable cases he presided over was the murder of Doctor David Gunn in 1993, in which he represented the convict, Michael F. Griffin. He did, however, withdraw from the case after defending his client in court a few times. Scarborough then assisted Griffin with his future legal proceedings, including the selection of a new lawyer. He even shielded his family from public scrutiny.
Scarborough rose to prominence in politics after opposing a property tax increase in Pensacola in 1993. As a result, the following year, he became the first “Republican” congressman elected from Florida’s 1st Congressional District in 121 years.
Scarborough served on the “Judiciary,” “National Security,” “Armed Services,” “Government Reform and Oversight,” “Civil Service,” and “Education” committees during his tenure. He belonged to the “New Federalists,” a small group of young “Republican” members of the “Congress.”
During the 1994 congressional election campaign, he signed the “Contract with America,” a legislative agenda.
Scarborough was re-elected in 1996 but only ran against write-in candidates in 1998 and 2000.
Scarborough, as a congressman, was an opponent of abortion. He was involved in several anti-abortion campaigns and the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act” at the time. He also backed the 1995 “Medicare Preservation Act.”
He supported and sponsored legislation to withdraw the United States from the “United Nations.” When the impeachment process began on October 8, 1998, Scarborough voted in favor of it.
He proposed that the “Corporation for Public Broadcasting” operate independently of the federal government and not be funded by it. Scarborough founded the weekly local newspaper “The Florida Sun” in Pensacola in 1999.
Scarborough announced his resignation in May 2001. He still had 5 months to finish his fourth term in the “Congress.” Scarborough stated that he resigned in order to spend more time with his family.
Scarborough returned to his law practice and worked as an environmental lawyer after resigning.
Scarborough debuted on television in April 2003 with the MSNBC show “Scarborough Country.” His first book, “Rome Wasn’t Burned in a Day: The Real Deal on How Politicians, Bureaucrats, and Other Washington Barbarians Are Bankrupting America,” was published in October 2005.
In May 2007, he began co-hosting the MSNBC show “Morning Joe” with Mika Brzezinski, eventually taking over the “Imus in the Morning” slot permanently in July.
Scarborough and Brzezinski began hosting a late-morning radio show for “WABC (770 AM)” in New York City on December 8, 2008. Scarborough ended the show on April 26, 2010, after an unbeaten run, only to announce that it would be relaunched with a new format. The show, however, never returned.
On June 9, 2009, his second book, “The Last Best Hope,” was released. Scarborough’s book had a plan for how conservatives could get back into politics, which they had lost because of the failed 2006 midterm elections and the 2008 presidential election.
Scarborough was named one of the world’s most influential people in 2011 by the ‘Time 100.’ He was a visiting fellow at the “Harvard Institute of Politics,” which is part of the “Harvard Kennedy School of Government.”
On November 12, 2013, Scarborough’s third book, “The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics—and Can Again,” was released.
Scarborough announced on July 11, 2017, that he had left the “Republican Party” and would no longer be representing any political party.
Controversies
During Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, Scarborough chastised the “Democratic National Committee” for protecting and ensuring her nomination.
Similarly, in August 2016, he criticized Donald Trump in an op-ed published in “The Washington Post.” Scarborough argued that the “Republican Party” should withdraw his presidential nomination.
In 2016, Trump slammed Scarborough on his show “Morning Joe” after the latter stated that he would not vote for Trump and that a third-party candidate should be nominated. Scarborough, Brzezinski, and two other panelists called Trump’s remark about a Mexican-American judge “completely racist” in June of that year.
Scarborough and his co-host, Brzezinski, discussed Trump’s administration and projected a negative image of it. In June 2017, Trump responded with a critical “tweet,” addressing both hosts and calling them names. Several “Republican” lawmakers slammed the “tweet.”
Scarborough’s “tweet” about the death of multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who was also a sex offender, was heavily criticized in August 2019.
Honors and Awards
Scarborough has received numerous awards and honors from various organizations. He has also received the “United States Chamber of Commerce’s” Spirit of Enterprise Award, “the “Taxpayer’s Hero Award” from “Citizens Against Government Waste,”.
He has also been inducted into the “Hall of Fame” of the University of Alabama’s College of Communication and Information Sciences.
Personal and Family Life
In 1986, Scarborough married Melanie Hinton. They had two sons before divorcing in 1999.
Scarborough married Susan Waren, a former assistant to Florida Governor Jeb Bush, in October 2001. Susan had previously worked for the congressional committee as well. In August 2003, they had a daughter, and in May 2008, they had a son. In January 2013, the couple divorced.
Scarborough proposed to his co-host Mika Brzezinski in early 2017 while they were on vacation in Antibes, France. On November 24, 2018, the couple was married in Washington, D.C.