It hurts to discover your political hero is just another sell-out hack. And so it was for Mika Brzezinski today, confronted with the reality that her idol, Elizabeth Warren, whom she was promoting for president as early as 2013, has apparently sold out in return for a spot in a a prospective Hillary Clinton administration.
Today's Morning Joe rolled a clip of Fauxcahontas repeatedly dodging Norah O'Donnell's straightforward question: should Hillary release the transcripts of her Wall Street speeches? Lieawatha gives the lamest of non-answers, saying "the candidates are doing what they should do in a primary." Whatever. Said a disillusioned Mika: "she was completely circumventing the question. I'm not sure I would have continued the interview and you guys know that I'm good on that. But that was no answer. There must be some negotiation under way."
Note: Mika's mention of being "good" at cutting off people who won't answer questions was an allusion to the way that last week she cut short her interview of Florida Gov. Rick Scott when he repeatedly refused to comment on Donald Trump's statement that "Islam hates us."
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: So Josh Earnest was left in a position of dancing around the truth, which I can show you another version of that, but what I think what's really happening here is that Elizabeth Warren might be trying to negotiate herself a very good position in whatever the Clinton administration might look like. Senator Elizabeth Warren was asked yesterday about Hillary Clinton's paid speeches on Wall Street. Now you'd think the answer to that would be crystal clear, right? Elizabeth Warren? Should Hillary release the Wall Street speech? Of course she should! Right?
WILLIE GEIST: [facetiously] That's what she said, right?
MIKA: It's got to be. Take a look.
NORAH O'DONNELL: Do you believe that Senator Clinton should release the transcripts of her speeches to Goldman Sachs?
ELIZABETH WARREN: Look, I think that our candidates are out doing what they should do in a primary. They are debating the issues.
O'DONNELL: You're not answering my question, senator.
WARREN: What I'm doing is telling you what I think should be going on right now in this election, in this primary.
O"DONNELL: Well, just a yes or no question: it's a yes or no question. Should she release the transcripts or not?
WARREN: What I told you is I think that the primaries are doing exactly what they should be doing and the candidates are being tested.
STEVE RATTNER: Oh, Mika, you must be so depressed [see screencap below of Mika disabused of her dreams.]
DONNY DEUTSCH: That's your girl.
MIKA: I think she's going to be veep. There must be something in play here.
DEUTSCH, Oh, that would be the worst.
MIKA: That was obviously dancing around the topic, so I hope you get something good. Because that was --
RATTNER: Well, you just let Josh Earnest have it --
MIKA: I did.
RATTNER: -- for dancing around the topic so let's have --
MIKA: I did, I am, in a back-handed way. I'm saying she was completely circumventing the question. I'm not sure I would have continued the interview, and you guys know that I'm good on that. But that was no answer. There must be some negotiation under way. I hope it works out really well because we need her.
