Politics

Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski Tell Beto He Shouldn’t ‘Apologize For Being White’

Screenshot/MSNBC

Phillip Stucky Contributor
Font Size:

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski advised former Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke not to apologize for being white Wednesday morning.

Scarborough started:

I have campaign advice for Beto if he is re-launching his campaign. It is this: Beto, stop apologizing. Do not apologize for being on “Vanity Fair.” Own it. Do not apologize for having a very rich father-in-law. Own it. Do not apologize for taking Republican positions in the past. That’s what you did, OK? That’s what Donald Trump did. He took democratic positions his whole life. Own it. Explain why you did it. Do not apologize for being white.

After listing a few other things O’Rourke shouldn’t apologize for, Scarborough said, “Let your opponents whine. Ignore the blue check marks. If you’re on Twitter, get off of it. Just start talking to voters. They don’t live on Twitter. They do not live on Twitter. Stop apologizing.” (RELATED: Scarborough: Biden Needs To Listen To Workers, Not Blue Checks On Twitter)

The advice came after O’Rourke said that his appearance on the cover of “Vanity Fair” was a mistake and that he never should have said that he was born to run for president during an interview with “The View” Tuesday.

“Yeah, I think it reinforces that perception of privilege and that headline that said I was born to be in this — in the article, I was attempting to say that I felt that my calling was in public service. No one is born to be President of the United States of America, least of all me,” he responded Tuesday.

In the same interview, he apologized for another comment about his wife that critics claimed made light of her role in their children’s lives.

“So listen, in — in a real ham-handed way I was trying to acknowledge that she has the lion’s share of the responsibility during this campaign,” he said of the comment.

He continued:

Not only does she work, she is the principal caregiver to our kids, she is supporting me, she campaigns with me as she just did in New Hampshire this past weekend, and I’m trying to acknowledge that by saying she’s raising our kids, sometimes with my help, I called Amy after I got that criticism and I said, ‘tell me, am I saying this wrong?’ She said, ‘I know what you’re trying to say and I really appreciate where you’re coming from, but the way in which you said it sounds flippant. It minimizes what I’m doing and frankly what a lot of other women in this country are doing so you need to rethink this and say this differently.’ So listen, I have a lot to learn and still am.