MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough said Friday he’s interested in moderating one of the Republican presidential primary debates.
Asked if he’s been approached by the Republican National Committee about participating in any of the scheduled debates, Scarborough said no.
“I haven’t, but I’m available,” he said, adding that he is a friend of RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.
“I think the GOP has the right to debate any way they want,” he said, referring to changes made to the way presidential debates are formatted. “There’s no use in having 87 debates where there seemed to be one gotcha question after another,” said Scarborough, a Republican and a former congressman.
The debate adjustments were made in 2013 in response to criticisms within the party that there were too many primary debates for the 2012 presidential election and that mainstream news outlets were given too much control over them.
The changes were made to incorporate conservative media into the debates. Last week it was announced that conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt will participate in a September debate hosted by CNN.
Scarborough was at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, hosted just outside of Washington, D.C., on Friday.
