Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough slammed his hand on the desk in celebration while his wife and co-host, Mika Brzezinski, pressed a hand to her chest as they reacted to the Democrats’ historic Texas midterm victory.
Scarborough shouted during Wednesday’s early broadcast after Republicans reportedly lost both the Texas governor’s race and a U.S. Senate seat in a stunning upset.
“After Hispanics have been beaten, brutalized, killed and punched—treated not as second- or third-class citizens, but like animals—like animals,” he declared, striking the desk as he spoke.
Brzezinski held her chest throughout the outburst, nodding slightly and repeatedly responding, “Yes.”
“Last night, Hispanics spoke back. Hispanic Americans—Americans—and they used their vote. And Gina [Hinojosa] is the new governor,” Scarborough continued. The longtime Republican has become a vocal critic of the MAGA movement.
He briefly interrupted himself to acknowledge that, while he wished he could “be in the middle on everything,” he could not remain neutral about Hinojosa’s victory.
“Gina is the new governor of Texas. None of us thought Texas would ever go blue because we always heard Democrats saying, ‘It was going to go blue this year,’” he said. “A Hispanic woman trounced Greg Abbott.”
No Democrat had won statewide office in Texas since 1994. When Hinojosa entered the contest, she was widely viewed as a long-shot challenger to Republican incumbent Abbott, who was seeking a third term.
Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough brought his hand down on the desk in celebration as Mika Brzezinski clutched her chest while the pair marked Gina Hinojosa’s reported Texas victory
Hinojosa, pictured, defeated Republican incumbent Ken Paxton in the Texas gubernatorial race
Democrats also captured Senate seats in traditionally Republican states including Kansas, South Carolina, Ohio, Maine and Iowa.
The party further reclaimed control of the House of Representatives, which it last held in 2023, after flipping multiple seats in states such as Kentucky, New Jersey, Indiana and North Carolina.
Liberal news commentators quickly began celebrating what they described as a “blue wave,” with CNN’s Van Jones reacting enthusiastically as the results came in Tuesday night.
“I’m happy, happy, happy! I’m so happy!” Jones said with a broad grin from the anchor desk during CNN’s special Election Day in America coverage.
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“Listen, this is much bigger. This is like Christmas, a birthday, the Easter Bunny and Halloween all at once. This is the repudiation of Trumpism that people have been hoping for—the sight of American democracy standing up.”
He added: “Sometimes you have kleptocratic rulers who take power and entrench themselves for decades. In America, 24 months later, the message is: knock it off. We don’t want it.”
Scott Jennings, CNN’s leading conservative commentator, rolled his eyes as Jones delivered his victory speech.
Jones later compared the Republican Party to a cult, specifically the People’s Temple of the Disciples of Christ, the organization led by Jim Jones.
CNN’s Van Jones, left, celebrated as election results came in Tuesday night before comparing the GOP to the Jonestown cult. His conservative colleague, Scott Jennings, rolled his eyes during the reaction
The People’s Temple of the Disciples of Christ was founded by Jim Jones in 1955. The group, later regarded as a destructive cult, ended in tragedy in 1978 when more than 900 members died in a mass suicide
Founded by Jones in Indianapolis in 1955, the religious organization blended Christian teachings with communist ideology.
The group, which would later be regarded as a destructive cult, met a tragic end in 1978 when more than 900 of its members died in a mass suicide.
“By the way, if you join a cult, at some point the cult leader takes you to Jonestown and tries to get you to drink the Kool-Aid,” Jones said on CNN.
“This is Jonestown for the Republican Party. They drank the Kool-Aid, and candidates are dropping like flies across the country because they failed to stand up to this man when he was doing wrong, violating the law and running over our system.”
He continued: “They didn’t stand up to him, and now they’re paying the price. It’s Jonestown tonight. When you join a cult, at some point you go to Jonestown.
“That’s where you are tonight, Republicans.”
Jennings shook his head and stared at Jones, appearing to signal his disbelief at the commentator’s remarks.
