Morning Joe and Fox & Friends agree Bloomberg appeared 'woefully ill-prepared' for the Nevada debate

Michael Bloomberg
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg got pummeled at the Nevada Democratic debate, and he seemed "woefully ill-prepared" for it, the hosts of Morning Joe and Fox & Friends agree.

The MSNBC and Fox News morning shows both tore in Thursday after Bloomberg's first Democratic debate, concluding his preparation for it could have used some serious work.

"I'm always surprised when people show up on the national stage when they know what questions are coming at them and they're just woefully ill-prepared," Morning Joe's Joe Scarborough observed Thursday. "I'm doubly surprised that Mike Bloomberg, who had to have known the questions about the NDAs, the questions about the women, the questions about stop and frisk, the questions about his money, he had to know they were all coming."

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Still, Bloomberg did "horribly" for at least the first 70 minutes of the debate, Scarborough said, asking, "How do you show up after investing that much money and not have a 60-second answer ready on these attacks you know are coming?" Panelist Donny Deutsch suggested this showed "arrogance" on Bloomberg's part.

The hosts of Fox & Friends similarly panned Bloomberg's performance and were equally surprised by his apparent lack of preparation.

"He was terrible," host Steve Doocy said, while Brian Kilmeade observed, "It's as if he had no idea he was going to be hit with his own record."

Bloomberg doesn't have much time to get better prepared for round two, as the next Democratic debate is just five days away. Brendan Morrow

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.