Appearing on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports on Friday, former Obama State Department official and Time magazine editor Richard Stengel hurled a wild accusation at President Trump, claiming the commander-in-chief guilty of “harassment” against United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
The incendiary claim came after anchor Andrea Mitchell played a clip of Trump innocently joking during a White House luncheon with the U.N. Security Council: “Does everybody like Nikki?...Otherwise she could easily be replaced, right?” As the whole room laughed, he immediately added: “No, we won’t do that, right? I promise we won’t do that. She’s doing a fantastic job.”
Somehow from that innocuous exchange, Stengel saw a serious offense: “Well, by the way, that was a videotaped example of actual harassment of an employee. I’ve never seen anything like that, even in the private sector.”
Just to be clear, Bill Clinton had sex with a White House intern in the Oval Office. But forget about that, Donald Trump making a small joke was the worst thing Stengel had ever seen.
Here is a transcript of the April 28 exchange:
12:43 PM ET
(...)
ANDREA MITCHELL: The New York Times also reporting, Rick, that there was – is tension between Nikki Haley and the Secretary of State. That she has been chided for being too out front and for sometimes not getting the policy right. This could be a window into the President’s thinking during a photo opportunity at the White House, when she brought the Security Council down on Monday. Let’s watch.
DONALD TRUMP: Does everybody like Nikki? Because if you don’t –
[LAUGHTER]
TRUMP: Otherwise she could easily be replaced, right?
[LAUGHTER]
TRUMP: No, we won’t do that, right? I promise we won’t do that. She’s doing a fantastic job.
MITCHELL: And perhaps the real tell, Rick, is that the Secretary of State wasn’t even there. So you had the U.N. Ambassador and the entire Security Council at the White House with the President having lunch and the Secretary of State wasn’t part of the game?
RICHARD STENGEL: Well, by the way, that was a videotaped example of actual harassment of an employee. I’ve never seen anything like that, even in the private sector.
(...)
