Janay Rice had not even responded to the outcry over the video released by TMZ.com, yet MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski decided to speak for the victim herself as if she doesn’t really care what the wife of suspended running back Ray Rice thinks at all.
On “Morning Joe” Tuesday, the liberal co-host told Joe Scarborough and their resident panelists that Janay Rice “whether she likes it or not … is a victim of domestic violence.”
“No matter what she says in a tweet or standing by her husband side, from the video that now everybody can see from two angles is a victim of domestic violence, whether she likes it or not,” said Brzezinski.
“Whether she wants to admit it or not. Whether she’s been pushed into believing that she’s not by somebody who is pressuring her, or whether she’s convinced herself of something else. That’s what happens to victims of domestic violence. They become emotionally debilitated, and it’s up to us not to condone this.”
Janay Rice responded to the outcry for the first time later in the morning with an Instagram post slamming the media’s coverage of the newly-released TMZ video Monday.
“I woke up this morning feeling like I had a horrible nightmare, feeling like I’m mourning the death of my closest friend,” the wife of the former Ravens player said. “But to have to accept the fact that it’s reality is a nightmare in itself. No one knows the pain that [the] media & unwanted options from the public has caused my family.”
“To make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret every day is a horrible thing. To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his ass of for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific. THIS IS OUR LIFE! What don’t you all get. If your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone, take all happiness away, you’ve succeeded on so many levels.”