MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski on Tuesday went ballistic, blasting ABC’s Robin Roberts for daring to ask Joe Biden about his unwanted touching. After playing a clip of the Good Morning America interview, the Morning Joe co-host raged, “The amount of time that was spent on Biden's hugs — This is a guy who has hugged five to ten million people and they love the fact that he's touchy and huggy and they run to him. And five women are uncomfortable with the way they hugged him.”
Brzezinski engaged in what would be called mansplaining, if someone else said it. Addressing Lucy Flores and other women who had uncomfortable moments with Biden, she lectured: “One of them says she [sic] smelled his hair, I can promise you, I know Joe Biden. He went up behind her and took a deep breath because he was about to go on stage. I want to explain that because there was a woman who accused him of smelling her hair. He’s not interested in your hair!”
Brzezinski then theatrically declared she wouldn’t discuss the matter anymore: “This, once again, is completely ridiculous and the rest of America thinks it's ridiculous, I'm done. You guys can continue to talk about this, I won't. I refuse to give it any more time. So, take it away.”
Attempting to back her up, co-host and husband Joe Scarborough enthused, “This is what Joe Biden does! If somebody's uncomfortable with it, they can tell him in real time....As Mika was saying, this is what Joe Biden does to kids!”
For a frame of reference, here are the questions that so enraged Brzezinski:
ROBERTS [To Joe Biden]: You put out the video and it was a very powerful video right after these accusations from women who said that you made them feel uncomfortable.... And some people were wondering do you really get it
(....)
ROBERTS [TO JILL BIDEN]: How did you react when those first accusations were made?
(....)
ROBERTS [TO JILL BIDEN]: Have you ever experienced a similar situation when a man made you feel uncomfortable by their actions or inappropriate language of any sort? Has that ever happened to you?
JILL BIDEN: Yes, it’s happened to me.
A partial transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
MSNBC's Morning Joe
4/30/19
7:11 a.m. Eastern[On Biden’s kickoff.]
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Joe Biden, man, Joe Biden goes to the heart of the territory he has to win if he's going to get re-elected. We can break it down -- you know, these poll numbers, they may not mean anything but can't we say that if Joe Biden hold Donald Trump even in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania and cleans up in Scranton and Altoona and areas from central to Eastern Pennsylvania, Donald Trump's not going to be re-elected. It's that simple.
(....)
[After clip of Robin Roberts asking Biden about his unwanted touching problem.]
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: You know, I really think sometimes we got to get out of New York, get out of Washington, get out of the big cities and think about what the questions are you want to ask a major candidate in terms of their candidacy for presidency. The amount of time that was spent on Biden's hugs — This is a guy who has hugged five to ten million people and they love the fact that he's touchy and huggy and they run to him and five women are uncomfortable with the way they hugged him.
One of them says she [sic] smelled his hair, I can promise you, I know Joe Biden. He went up behind her and took a deep breath because he was about to go on stage. I want to explain that because there was a woman who accused him of smelling her hair. He’s not interested in your hair! Okay? He was going on stage, he took a deep breath before he went on stage and you took it deeply personally and now you're writing a New York Times op-ed about it demanding an apology? This, once again, is completely ridiculous and the rest of America thinks it's ridiculous, too. I'm done. You guys can continue to talk about this, I won't. I refuse to give it any more time. So take it away.
(....)
SCARBOROUGH: This is what Joe Biden does! If somebody's uncomfortable with it, they can tell him in real time, but this is — as Mika was saying, this is what Joe Biden does to kids! He's learned his lesson I'm sure, he's going to back away, that's fine. But to suggest that there was something malicious in what he was doing --
BRZEZINSKI: That demands an apology.
SCARBOROUGH: Or that he was getting his kicks from doing that, sorry, there's about 45 years of public experience that suggests that's just not true.
