Mika Skeptical of Stephanopoulos as Dem Debate Moderator

April 4th, 2016 12:14 PM

Welcome to the club, Mika: file this one under A Liberal Discovers Media Bias . . . Back in 2012, George Stephanopoulos was somehow permitted to moderate a Republican primary debate, and proceeded to harangue frontrunner Mitt Romney on the arcane matter of the right of states to prohibit contraceptive sales, thus abetting the Dems' "GOP War on Women" narrative. Republicans were rightly outraged.

Now, in an ironic twist, it's the turn of some liberals to doubt Stephanopoulos' ability to serve as an impartial moderator . . . of a Dem debate. On today's Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski repeatedly expressed skepticism at the notion of Steph moderating a debate between Hillary and Bernie Sanders, given that George served as a senior aide to President Clinton and has been a donor to the Clinton Foundation. 

Note: Jonathan Capehart and Harold Ford, Jr. declined to question Stephanopoulos' ability to moderate fairly. In contrast, Joe Scarborough pointed out to fellow former congressman Ford that neither of them would permit a top aide to the other to moderate a debate between them. 

Note Segundo: After Steph's donation to the Clinton Foundation was uncovered, he announced that he wouldn't moderate a GOP debate. But doesn't the same logic--that he couldn't be impartial or at the least have the appearance of impartiality--apply to a debate between Hillary and Bernie?

Note Tercero: NewsBuster Scott Whitlock has provided a perfect example of Steph's pro-Hillary bias. In that very same interview of Hillary today in which the notion of a debate moderated by Stephanopoulos was floated, George failed to ask Clinton a single question about the email scandal. 

GEORGE STEPHANOPOOULOS: Are you and Bernie Sanders going to debate in New York? 

HILLARY CLINTON: I'm hoping to. We offered dates which they refused. You offered, GMA offered a debate during GMA on Friday the 15th. I'll be there. I think it's a great opportunity to reach an audience that may not always be able because of other obligations to tune into debates. I understand there's a debate in the works for the night of the 14th, I will be there. So I want a debate. 

WILLIE GEIST: All right, so she says she'll be there on April 14th. 

JOE SCARBOROUGH: She'll let -- 

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Wait a minute, she wants to do a debate with George Stephanopoulos as the moderator? 

WILLIE: That was one of the proposed ideas. 

KRISTEN WELKER: That was one of the proposed ideas and I know that. 

MIKA: Didn't he work for her? 

WELKER: Yes. And there was some speculation this weekend that that is one of the reasons why the Sanders' campaign said absolutely not. 

MIKA: Didn't he donate to the Clinton Foundation? 

WELKER: Yes, he did. 

MIKA: Okay, I'm curious, are you kidding me? 

WELKER: No, I'm absolutely serious.

. . . 

MIKA: Jonathan Capehart, help me understand or tell me if I'm going down the wrong path here. It appears the Clinton campaign wants to do either a debate that no one will see [on a minor channel on a night a New York team in playing in the NCAA women's basketball final] or a debate with a moderator that might not be completely fair toward Bernie Sanders? I mean, what do you think of the concept of a GMA debate with George Stephanopoulos? 

. . . 

JONATHAN CAPEHART: As for the second part about George Stephanopoulos, I'm not going to get into -- I mean, yes, it's been out there, he's donated to the Clinton Foundation and yes he worked for President Clinton back in the early '90s but I'm not going to get into George's credibility or his motivations.

. . . 

MIKA: Am I overstating the concern about trying to choose a moderator on GMA by the Clinton campaign that actually worked for the Clintons? 

HAROLD FORD, JR.: Any campaign would try to choose the best -- I think in all fairness to George, George has been a pretty impartial guy as he's gone about his work. 

JOE: Yeah, but if I'm debating against you --

MIKA: -- if I'm Bernie Sanders

JOE: I'm not going to let you have your chief of staff moderate our debate, from the House days, and you wouldn't let my chief of staff. 

MIKA: What would you say if --

FORD: It was her husband's communications director. ABC has to make that decision.