Wednesday on Morning Joe, co-host Mike Brzezinski had a field day attacking Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. While she declared Manafort is “the most negative, kind of harsh person I’ve ever seen” she proceeded with an onslaught of her own negative criticism, referring to him repeatedly as “Lurch.” Even after multiple failed attempts by co-host Joe Scarborough to quell her name-calling, Brzezinski could not be stopped.
BRZEZINSKI: It's like lurch leading a campaign.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, come on!
BRZEZINSKI: No seriously.
SCARBOROUGH: Stop it.
BRZEZINSKI: No. I’m not stopping it.
SCARBOROUGH: Now you're sounding like Democratic activists in the Ukraine. Stop it.
Scarborough has a point. Despite her name-calling, Brzezinski paradoxically insisted that “it’s not that I don’t like him,” assuring viewers that “she doesn’t hate.”
BRZEZINSKI: I’m not saying I don’t like him.
SCARBOROUGH: Again.
BRZEZINSKI: I don’t hate.
JOHN HEILEMANN: You just called him Lurch.
After the clip of Manafort aired, Brzezinski couldn’t control her anger. She was particularly perturbed by his choice to use the word “female” in turning the table on Hillary Clinton for the fallout after allegations of plagiarism by Melania Trump.
BRZEZINSKI: It's like a female thing? He used the word female? Are you kidding me? What year is this? Is this 1970, Lurch?
SCARBOROUGH: Mika. Mika.
BRZEZINSKI: What? What? We're females.
SCARBOROUGH: So you’re saying you can’t say the word females? Okay.
BRZEZINSKI: Aren't you lucky you have two females on the set?
While the “Lurch” rant may have appealed to liberal viewers, it is undeniable that Brzezinski’s mudslinging only begets further mudslinging. Welcome to the world of MSNBC, Cleveland.
View Full Transcript Here:
07-20-16 MSNBC Morning Joe
06:17:28 AM – 06:18:55 AMMIKA BRZEZINSKI: Note to our friends. In response to the media storm, chairman Paul Manafort pointed directly -- this is unbelievable. I can't believe this guy.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Oh what do you mean, blaming, blaming Hillary Clinton?
BRZEZINSKI: Why?
SCARBOROUGH: saying–
BRZEZINSKI: He is the most negative, kind of harsh person I've ever seen—
SCARBOROUGH: You don’t like him.
BRZEZINSKI: —leading a campaign.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, come on!
BRZEZINSKI: It's like lurch leading a campaign.
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, come on!
BRZEZINSKI: No seriously.
SCARBOROUGH: Stop it.
BRZEZINSKI: No. I’m not stopping it.
SCARBOROUGH: Now you're sounding like democratic activists in the Ukraine. Stop it.
BRZEZINSKI: I’m telling the truth. Oh, my god. I mean seriously.
SCARBOROUGH: Alright so let’s just stop that.
NICOLLE WALACE: Well, John Weaver doesn't like him.
SCARBOROUGH: No, and the thing is—
BRZEZINSKI: I’m not saying I don’t like him.
SCARBOROUGH: Again.
BRZEZINSKI: I don’t hate.
JOHN HEILEMANN: You just called him lurch.
BRZEZINSKI: He is just, he comes in—
SCARBOROUGH: She's called me lurch before.
[Brzezinski laughs]
SCARBOROUGH: So anyway we're not going to even play this clip. This is where Manafort says that—
BRZEZINSKI: No, I want to hear it.
SCARBOROUGH: —Hillary Clinton
BRZEZINSKI: Please, its comical.
SCARBOROUGH: Alright, let’s stop talking. Play the clip.
WALLACE: Play the clip.
[Clip from Paul Manafort Defending Melania Allegations of Plagiarism]
PAUL MANAFORT: There is a political tint to this whole issue, and certainly we've noted that the Clinton camp was the first to get it out there when Hillary Clinton was threatened by a female, the first thing she does is try to destroy, destroy the person.
SCARBOROUGH: So anyway.
BRZEZINSKI: He didn't do that, did he?
SCARBOROUGH: First of all, that wasn’t true. Okay, okay.
WALLACE: Yeah.
BRZEZINSKI: It's like a female thing? He used the word female? Are you kidding me? What year is this? Is this 1970, lurch?
SCARBOROUGH: Mika. Mika.
BRZEZINSKI: What? What? We're females.
SCARBOROUGH: So you’re saying you can’t say the word females? Okay.
BRZEZINSKI: Aren't you lucky you have two females on the set?
WALLACE: [Laughing]
BRZEZINSKI: You’re outnumbered!
SCARBOROUGH: Manafort—
BRZEZINSKI: Oh, my god.
