An MSNBC contributor couldn't even talk about Major League Baseball on Wednesday without bringing politics into the discussion.
"Morning Joe" recapped Tuesday night's All-Star Game, where the American League triumphed over the National League 8-6 in extra innings. Fill-in host Willie Geist—Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski had the day off—asked frequent MSNBC guest Mike Barnicle what to expect in the second half of the season in the AL East division race between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
"My God, Willie, we have never needed baseball more," Barnicle said. "We need it to take our minds off the daily developments in Washington, the scandalous developments in Washington from the Oval Office. We need baseball. We need to be in the thick of a pennant race, Red Sox-Yankees, from now until maybe Columbus Day."
"We need it. We need that pressure valve to just be popped open and a little relief from Major League Baseball," he added.
"And the Yankees need a starting pitcher," Geist quipped.
Barnicle said as early as last October—less than nine months into the Donald Trump presidency—that he was "tired" of the current administration and Trump "exhausts" him.
"Watching the President of the United States just then, I was reminded again, as I am reminded nearly daily now, he exhausts me," Barnicle said, as Trump boarded a flight to Puerto Rico. "I'm tired of seeing him. I'm tired of hearing him. I'm tired of wondering if he knows what he's saying or what he's doing."