MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski and Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie got into a tense exchange over late-term abortion Thursday on “Morning Joe.”
Brzezinski claimed elective abortions in the ninth month do not happen, sparking another tense debate between her and Christie on the issue. The former New Jersey governor argued several blue states in the U.S. do not legally prohibit abortions from happening up to the moment of birth.
“The one thing you keep saying is you keep talking about abortion in the ninth month, which is allowed in your state, and last time I asked you to like bring me the case where a woman walked into a doctor’s office in the ninth month and said, ‘I’ve decided that I don’t want to have a baby. Please take this out,'” Brzezinski said.
“It doesn’t happen. Less than one percent of abortions are performed after 21 weeks, and if there is a situation like that, it’s because there is a massive emergency. So I just think, of all the candidates, you’ve been the most honest about Trump and election integrity, but in this one respect, I have to call you out because you’re not being honest on the issue. We can debate abortion, but there isn’t abortion in the ninth month.”
“Mika, you’re the one who’s not being honest. I did not say there’s abortion in the ninth month. What I said was that the law in New Jersey and New York and Illinois and California permits it. And you can’t deny that that’s the truth because it is,” Christie said.
“It doesn’t happen, Chris,” Brzezinski said. (RELATED: ‘Morning Joe’ Hosts Repeatedly Cut Off Chris Christie As He Speaks Out Against Late-Term Abortions)
“So don’t call somebody a liar, don’t call —” Christie began.
“I’m not calling you a liar,” Brzezinski interrupted. “It’s not honest.”
“And by the way — no, no, Mika, nor did I say that it did,” Christie said.
“Let’s have an honest discussion about the issue,” the host interjected.
“Well, let’s have an honest discussion about the issue,” he said.
“But it doesn’t happen,” she said.
“Why don’t you answer my question? Does the law permit it in those states? Well that’s all I said,” Christie replied. “So I don’t understand what your problem is with that. In the end, if that’s what the law permits, that’s what the people who passed those laws said is okay, is legally permissible. That’s the point I’m making.”
The MSNBC host said abortions are personal, rather than political, for women and said Republicans will “lose” on the issue if they are not honest.
“Mika, point out to me where I wasn’t honest. I said what the state of the law is. Now you want to deny that because you know it’s miserably unpopular for the state of the law to be in that position. But that’s what the state of the law is. Now you can argue about how many people are gonna take advantage of it or not, but I think it’s wrong for anybody to be able to take advantage of an abortion in the ninth month of pregnancy, and I think it’s wrong for the law to be there,” Christie continued.
He then told Brzezinski not to “mess” with him on what the written law is in some blue states.
“Yeah, don’t mess with me on how women feel about using the ninth month argument on the issue of abortion. We can disagree,” she pushed back.
Christie said while he does not agree with Oklahoma’s total ban on abortion with the only exception applying to the life of the mother, he believes abortion laws should be left to the states rather than the federal government.
Abortion played a key role in the elections in Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia Tuesday, in which Democrats received major victories. Voters in Ohio approved a measure to enshrine abortion into the state constitution and overturn the six-week ban.