Imagine the backlash this exchange would have elicited at left-wing storefronts had it aired on “Fox & Friends.”
On Friday’s “Morning Joe,” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski seemed a little put off by the media craze surrounding the feel-good story of homeless-man-turned-YouTube-sensation Ted Williams and the flood of offers he has received. (Partial transcript as follows)
SCARBOROUGH: Hey, uh I’m late for a meeting – I’m just going to, I’m going to see you on Monday
BRZEZINSKI: Welcome back to “Morning Joe.” Forty-four past the hour. You going to be OK? Lean forward, big buddy.
(Laughter)
BRZEZINSKI: All right, time for the must read op-eds. Bend over. All right, all right.
SCARBOROUGH: Wow. Really?
BRZEZINSKI: Yes, really. It’s called a good story. Umm huh. Yes. It’s a good story.
(Laughter)
BRZEZINSKI: I always worry about good stories, actually because they just kind of get out of hand.
On Thursday’s airing of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” the network made it official and announced Williams would be the voice of its “Lean Forward” campaign, which seemed to have been referenced by Brzezinski going into the segment. But Scarborough suggested using the same tactic to fill a void for their show.
“I’m just going to – actually, just a brainstorm,” Scarborough said. “You know, we need a new political producer, right – in Washington? And we’re looking for one. I’m going to go to Washington and I’m going to look at abandoned vans down by the river. Maybe we can get a good political producer down there.”
Watch:
Brzezinski did indicate she thought it was getting out of hand.
BRZEZINSKI: It’s a good story
SCARBOROUGH: You’re the one that wanted to leave him under the bridge
BRZEZINSKI: I did not. I actually thought the sports job was really cool. Just, at some point, things get out of hand. People get flown around and they go to Oprah
SCARBOROUGH: It just happened
BRZEZINSKI: Whatever …
It was a rocky morning for the “Morning Joe” cast. Earlier in the program, Brzezinski had an inadvertent slip of the tongue.