Discussing the growing list of sexual harassment and rape allegations against left-wing Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein on her MSNBC show Wednesday afternoon, anchor Andrea Mitchell saw a chance to deflect away from the scandal swirling around the prominent Democratic Party donor to instead attack conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
“And you know, we shouldn’t just pretend that it’s just Hollywood, because every profession has its own dynamics. And I remember covering the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991,” Mitchell declared as she recalled the discredited sexual harassment charges hurled at Thomas by Anita Hill.
Mitchell wrung her hands over how even “liberal stalwarts Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden and others” on the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time “were very eager to shut it down...when the polling overnight on this critical weekend showed that the American people, for whatever reasons, believed what he said rather than what she said.”
Joining Mitchell for the segment, NBC host Megyn Kelly chimed in: “And that was the first we really started hearing about sexual harassment as, like, a thing.” Mitchell agreed: “Exactly.”
Only at the very end of the exchange, just before going to commercial, did Mitchell manage to briefly mention Weinstein’s Democratic ties: “And we should just add – and we’ve got to go – but we should just add that this has become a political problem for Democratic politicians who have been big recipients of his largesse, and also for the Clintons and the Obamas, who took four or five days before they spoke out to criticize his alleged behavior.”
Given Weinstein’s support of the Clintons, one wonders why Mitchell didn’t reach back to 1990s to remind viewers of the numerous sexual harassment and assault allegations against Bill Clinton.
The biased discussion was brought to viewers by Red Lobster, GoDaddy.com, and Humana.
Here are excerpts of the October 11 segment:
12:26 PM ET
(...)
ANDREA MITCHELL: And you know, we shouldn’t just pretend that it’s just Hollywood, because every profession has its own dynamics. And I remember covering the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991 and what the reactions of the Senate Judiciary Committee were. And liberal stalwarts Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden and others, who, along with Strom Thurmond and other members of that committee, some still in the Senate, were very eager to shut it down when – when the polling overnight on this critical weekend showed that the American people, for whatever reasons, believed what he said rather than what she said.
MEGYN KELLY: And that was the first we really started hearing about sexual harassment as, like, a thing.
MITCHELL: Exactly.
(...)
MITCHELL: And we should just add – and we’ve got to go – but we should just add that this has become a political problem for Democratic politicians who have been big recipients of his largesse, and also for the Clintons and the Obamas, who took four or five days before they spoke out to criticize his alleged behavior. So there’s a lot more to become – to take a look at on all fronts.
KELLY: Absolutely.
(...)
