Joe Scarborough Praises ‘Best Biden Ever,’ Says To Critics: ‘F You If You Can’t Handle The Truth’

 MSNBC host Joe Scarborough claimed on Tuesday that “this version” of President Joe Biden — despite numerous gaffes and apparent difficulties when it comes to answering questions from the press — was actually “the best Biden ever.”

Scarborough made the comments on Tuesday morning, just hours before Biden’s planned State of the Union address, and he argued that the current Biden — namely the one who had been in Washington, D.C., in some capacity for 50 years — was far superior to the “hothead” who had first arrived in the Senate all those years earlier.

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“I’ve said it for years now, he’s cogent,” Scarborough began. “But I undersold him when I said he was cogent. He’s far beyond cogent. In fact, I think he’s better than he’s ever been — intellectually, analytically — because he’s been around for fifty years.”

“And, you know — I don’t know if people know this or not, but Biden used to be a hothead,” Scarborough continued, prompting laughter from his cohosts. “Sometimes that Irishman would get in front of the reasoning. Sometimes he would say things he didn’t want to say.”

Scarborough then told everyone to get their “tape” ready to go, because he was going to give them his unvarnished opinion on the matter.

“Start your tape right now, because I’m about to tell you the truth,” he said. “And F you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second, and I’ve known him for years, the Brzezinskis have known him for 50 years.”

President Biden’s cognitive abilities have been the subject of many questions from the press as his administration continues to guard him fiercely and protect him from unscripted dialogue with reporters. The few conversations he has granted have been conducted by relatively friendly interviewers, such as a brief New Year’s Eve spot with Ryan Seacrest and a recent appearance on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”