Joe Scarborough on Thursday’s Morning Joe attempted to express outrage over Iran’s hostage video and the Obama administration’s handling of it. But co-host Mika Brzezinski didn’t want to listen, sarcastically suggesting Scarborough “go on for about 20 minutes with outrage.”
Scarborough questioned how anyone could be happy and grateful when the circumstance was so dire: “Have we gotten to a point where our expectations as Americans are so low, that we are grateful to enemies putting guns to American solder’s and sailor’s heads and—and making them put their hands over their heads and produce hostage videos? And we’re grateful because it got resolved within a day?”
Brzezinski’s response was that she didn’t want to talk about it because they were up against a commercial break. Though, she did try to get off a shot at critics of the administration. “So I understand, you know, Ted Cruz had a stinging rebuke of the president and our foreign policy and kind of took this ten time more than you did. I—I understand it’s ammunition for critics. They’re home and what did you expect us to do?” Scarborough was visibly shocked that his co-host would dismiss outrage as just political.
See transcript below:
SCARBOROUGH: I've heard people, though, apologizing for Barack Obama and John Kerry and the administration saying the same thing. But Mika, have we gotten to a point where our expectations as Americans are so low, that we are grateful to enemies putting guns to American solder’s and sailor’s heads and—and making them put their hands over their heads and produce hostage videos? And we’re grateful because it got resolved within a day?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: No.
SCARBOROUGH: This is sick!
BRZEZINSKI: I – I – I hesitate to start a huge debate at the end of a block when we’re trying to get to a commercial, but I will say this: This is bad, this is horrifying, this is embarrassing I totally agree with you. Having said that; they are home. They are free, they were released ten hours later. So I understand, you know, Ted Cruz had a stinging rebuke of the president and out foreign policy and kind of took this ten time more than you did. I—I understand it’s ammunition for critics. They’re home and what did you expect us to do? Okay.
SCARBOROUGH: You know, there are also, there’s a Washington Post reporter coming up on six hundred days that is not home.
BRZEZINSKI: There, I suggest you go on for twenty minutes with outrage.
SCARBOROUGH: There's three other Americans that are still being held hostage that are not home. It was only a couple of weeks ago, I believe it was, that the Harry Truman—the USS Harry Truman had a missile fired at it from the Iranians-- that hit a thousand yards away. The Iranians already questions whether they have.
BRZEZINSKI: If we did not have this deal they would not be home, and that video would be out there.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, the question is, why are we dealing with these people?
BRZEZINSKI: Okay so, we will at a later date on this show. Since we have three hours, we will talk about what you think should be done.
SCARBOROUGH: By the way-- by the way, I guarantee you if they had not released those soldiers
or those sailors, they would been released without the Iranians doing it. If you, again, if we have gotten to such a sad pathetic state in America now, that we want to pat ourselves on the back because our U.S. Troops only have to put their hands on their heads and only have to do hostage videos for 24 hours, that's a sad state. And, that's all you need to know is to why Donald Trump is doing so well right now.
BRZEZINSKI: I’m giving you the last word because that’s the only way to get to break.
