The journalists at MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Thursday were in full freak out mode over the firing of James Comey. Co-host Mika Brzezinski declared, “I personally think it's over. I don't think there's anything that can be done that can stop this at this point.” She later judged Donald Trump guilty of a "cover-up."
Brzezinski further lamented, “This cacophony, this gushing of lies, problems, questions, chaos that will stop this presidency in its tracks because they won't be able to get anything else done and tomorrow there will be something new. And tomorrow there will be something new. There was always more chaos on the horizon.”
Heilemann, who is also a New York magazine writer and journalist, replied, “I think its fair to say that over the course of the campaign that he ran and the presidency now, there have been moments when this person or that person has been able to restrain the president, to pull him back from the edge. But never for very long, never in a durable way.” He then proceeded to praise the reporting done earlier this year by mainstream newspaper outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post before launching into full-blown conspiracy mode:
....We've been on an incredible tear with The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, doing amazing work since the start of this administration and if you take the collective information that they've brought up in the last 36 hours, along with NBC news and others, there's a picture that's very clear. There is a cover-up going on.
“There is a cover-up going on.” Brzezinski repeated back in agreement. “Say it again.” Heilemann proceeded onward to declare unequivocally:
That has to be the premise of all our reporting going forward.” “At this moment we don't know what is being covered up. That is still a huge question. How big it is? Who it goes to? Is it financial, is it personal, does it involve the president himself or just his associates? We don't know. This administration and this campaign in Russia, everything that they are doing gives the clear appearance of people who are trying to cover stuff up, lie about things and they are doing it with extraordinary ineptitude. And so, to the point that you raise, Mika, whatever their objectives have been about trying to end this, I think Mark made this point early this morning, they've only exacerbated their problems.
Heilemann then continued to burrow further down the rabbit hole to state his belief that the Comey firing would likely bring into existence the mainstream media’s long-desired fantasy of bringing down the Trump Administration: “This is a precipitating moment. I don't know if you're right, that this will bring the whole thing crashing down. But, if it does, if we end up there, this will be the moment that caused the entire thing in the end, to fall apart.”
A transcript from the May 11 Morning Joe segment is below:
7:10 AM ET
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: There are no measuring forces in the white house. Not one. And, John Heilemann, can you name one? If there were to be one I would think it might be on the foreign policy team, but I don't think they have that direct day-to-day access. It's not Jared. It's not Ivanka. It's not Reince. It's certainly not Sean Spicer. We all, I think, agree Steve Bannon might even add more casualties to this situation. Who is the person who is going to help this president get this ship back on track?
I personally think it's over. I don't think there's anything that can be done that can stop this at this point. This cacophony, this gushing of lies, problems, questions, chaos that will stop its presidency in its tracks because they won't be able to get anything else done and tomorrow there will be something new. And tomorrow there will be something new. There was always more chaos on the horizon.
JOHN HEILEMANN: I think its fair to say that over the course of the campaign that he ran and the presidency now, there have been moments when this person or that person has been able to restrain the president, to pull him back from the edge. But never for very long, never in a durable way. So, when you ask that question at this moment, I can't name a person --
BRZEZINSKI: You can't name one.
HEILEMANN: -- That has been in any consistent way effective at restraining his impulses. If think if you look at the totality of what the reporting -- the exceptional reporting by basically -- we've been on an incredible tear with ""The Wall Street journal," "The New York Times," "The Washington Post," doing amazing work since the start of this administration and if you take the collective information that they've brought up in the last 36 hours, along with NBC news and others, there's a picture that's very clear. There is a cover-up going on.
BRZEZINSKI: There is a cover-up going on. Say it again.
HEILEMANN: That has to be the premise of all our reporting going forward.
BRZEZINSKI: Yes.
HEILEMANN: At this moment we don't know what is being covered up. That is still a huge question. How big it is? Who it goes to? Is it financial, is it personal, does it involve the president himself or just his associates? We don't know. This administration and this campaign in Russia, everything that they are doing gives the clear appearance of people who are trying to cover stuff up, lie about things and they are doing it with extraordinary ineptitude. And so, to the point that you raise, Mika, whatever their objectives have been about trying to end this, I think Mark made this point early this morning, they've only exacerbated their problems.
This is now -- they have made the situation infinitely worse for themselves, in terms of the level of tension on this, the level of scrutiny, the number of people whose reputations are at stake, the number of Republicans who now feel–are eventually going to feel that they can't go on with this anymore purely out of tribal loyalty. This is a precipitating moment. I don't know if you're right, that this will bring the whole thing crashing down. But, If it does, if we end up there, this will be the moment that caused the entire thing in the end, to fall apart.
