Even though the Republican Party looks set to squeak out a one-point victory in Ohio’s 12th congressional district, “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough says that the party shouldn’t celebrate barely hanging on to a seat that it has held easily for decades.
“Regardless of who ends up winning it, Republicans certainly know as well as Democrats, this is another race where Republicans have under-performed in a district that is deep, deep red,” he said. “Maybe Democrats have won it once since the 1930s.”
Scarborough said that President Donald Trump’s historic unpopularity at this point in his first term has been costing the GOP significant support in crucial suburban areas that have long provided the backbone for GOP congressional majorities since the 1990s.
“Republicans are bleeding so badly right now in suburbs,” Scarborough said. “And then you go north to Franklin County [Ohio] in the exurbs, they’re basically splitting it, holding their own, but losing a ton of a votes. This is a party, the Republican Party, that’s becoming more and more of a rural party.”
Watch the video below.