Morning Joe might have been more motivated by concern for Democrats than with upholding journalistic standards. But the show did today rip the New York Times for its "glaring omission" in failing to include in the original version of its article about a new accusation against Brett Kavanaugh the fact that the alleged victim doesn't want to speak and that friends say doesn't recall the incident.
Joe Scarborough also criticized the Times for failing to mention that the person who brought forth the new allegation, Max Stier, was on the other side from Kavanaugh in the Ken Starr probe into Monica Lewinsky and other scandals.
Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski warned Democrats that jumping on this latest story could backfire on them. They suggested that the presidential candidates calling for Kavanaugh's impeachment speak with Claire McCaskill and ask how the Kavanaugh hearings worked out for her and other Democrats in 2018 -- McCaskill lost her Senate seat.
Scarborough tweeted on the same subject earlier this morning, and both in his tweet and on the air credited Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway with having broken the bombshell of the Times having to correct its original story by acknowledging that the alleged victim declined to be interviewed and that friends say she does not recall the episode.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
9/16/19
6:36 am EDT
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Why is there this glaring omission in the New York Times story? Molly Hemingway and others on Twitter were saying that, in fact, she had no recollection of this happening and her friends were saying the same thing. And I could not believe the New York Times would write this piece without that information contained in it. Are you surprised -- 24 hours — what is it, 24 hours went by before they clarified that fact? And let me just ask also, our producers just put in there that this Max Stier may be respected, but was it not relevant to note that he was opposing counsel on the other side of Brett Kavanaugh in the Monica Lewinsky legal proceedings? I don’t understand why they didn’t put this information in the article.
. . .
Here we have, again, a New York Times piece where Brett Kavanaugh is accused of something and, again, the very woman who was the alleged victim in this alleged incident is saying she doesn’t recall it happening. And so I’m — would just caution Democrats to call Claire McCaskill and talk to her and ask her how that worked for her and other Democratic Senate candidates in 2018.
. . .
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: And in terms of the politics, this may have been an important story to cover and to watch and to feel deeply about during the Christine Blasey Ford hearings. But it didn't work for the Democrats. And here we go again. Here's how 2020 are responding: Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Beto O'Rourke, Julian Castro, have have all called for Kavanaugh to be impeached, while Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar have called for further investigation. That’s where, personally, I think they should be. We don’t have all the information. Pete Buttigieg reportedly told CNN that if Kavanaugh doesn’t resign, he should be impeached. There hasn’t been any new statements from any of the candidates information since the Times updated the story overnight, that the female student declined to be interviewed and friends say she does not recall the episode. It seems like there are, Shannon Pettypiece, so many unanswered questions here, I’m just so surprised that candidates are making conclusions here that are impossible to make. Again!
