When you're auditioning for a gig as an MSNBC host, a good way to score brownie points with the bosses is to be as rude and accusatory as possible to Republican guests.
Take, for example, Jonathan Capehart, hoping to fill Joy Reid's shoes on the MSNBC weekend show she hosted before moving to weekday primetime. Capehart, an MSNBC contributor and Washington Post columnist, somehow managed to land an interview this morning with Rudy Giuliani.
The MSNBC host absolutely FAILED at trying to mock Rudy's record as NYC mayor:
JONATHAN CAPEHART: You were Mayor of New York City twice, 19 years.
GIULIANI: And it was much better when I was mayor. Right?
CAPEHART: Well, no, the person who succeeded you made it even better, and that was Mayor Bloomberg.
GIULIANI: He did! No question about it. I turned it around, and he made it better. The guy who is running it now is ruining it.
CAPEHART: My point here.
GIULIANI: And the guy that’s running it now is ruining it. You admit that, right?
Capehart tried and failed to corner Rudy regarding his contacts with a Ukrainian lawmaker, Andrii Derkach. He asked a "question" in the form of an accusation: "why were you working with a Russian agent to interfere in the 2020 election?"
Things went downhill from there, as Capehart repeatedly interrupted Rudy, and ignored his efforts to raise an issue of current, and more significant, interest: the apparent wiping of cellphones by multiple members of Robert Mueller's investigative team, in what congressional Republicans say could amount to an "anticipatory obstruction of justice."
Rudy managed to land the last, best shot: when Capehart said he wouldn't cover "conspiracy theories and lies," Rudy shot back:
"Your viewers should get to decide that. Not from your biased, Democratic point of view, Jonathan."
Jonathan Capehart's rude and accusatory interview of Rudy Giuliani was sponsored in part by Allstate and the US Postal Service.
Here's the transcript. Click "expand" to read more.
MSNBC
AM Joy
9/12/20
10:32 am EDTJONATHAN CAPEHART: So, Mayor Giuliani, why were you working with a Russian agent to interfere with the 2020 election?
RUDY GIULIANI: I wasn’t working with a Russian agent. That's a very, very, deceptive description . . . How come we’re not covering the Mueller tapes that were wiped out? Twelve --
CAPEHART: I’m going to pull you out of the weeds and out of the conspiracy theories . . . How could you not know that this person you were talking to is a known Russian agent? Who graduated from KGB schools?
GIULIANI: Jonathan, calm down. I —
CAPEHART: Answer the question.
GIULIANI: I do not have access — don’t, don't yell at me, Jonathan. That isn’t dignified. Pretend to give fair coverage. Pretend. I know you won’t cover the obstruction of justice by the twelve Mueller prosecutors who wiped their phones clean.
. . .
CAPEHART: Because you have had dealings with him. You met with him at least three times last year.
GIULIANI: Dealings -- you see the loaded words you use? I haven’t had dealings with him. I haven't done business with him, I interviewed him three times.
CAPEHART: You just said in the first answer --
GIULIANI: I interviewed him . . . What the Mueller people did with their cellphones [displays his cell phone]. I've never wiped out my cellphone accidentally. I'm not really good with this, but I've never wiped it out.
. . .
CAPEHART: Mayor Giuliani, I’m trying to be fair to you because you just said — you just said.
GIULIANI: No you’re not being fair to me. You’re not being fair to me. You're being totally unfair. But that's OK. I’m used to it . . . And I interviewed him three times, and they’re all a matter of public record. You can go to RudyGiulianiCommonSense.com and you can see two of the three interviews.
CAPEHART: And that's a nice plus, a nice plug for your podcast . . . You were Mayor of New York City twice, 19 years.
GIULIANI: And it was much better when I was mayor. Right?
CAPEHARTA: Well, no, the person who succeeded you made it even better, and that was Mayor Bloomberg.
GIULIANI: He did! No question about it. I turned it around, and he made it better. The guy who is running it now is ruining it.
CAPEHART: My point here.
GIULIANI: And the guy that’s running it now is ruining it. You admit that, right?
CAPEHART: I’m trying to understand how someone of your stature and career: what happened to you, Mayor Giuliani? Why are you out here speaking to conspiracy theories and lies and interfering with the American election? What happened to you?
GIULIANI: I was defending my client, Donald J. Trump against false charges that have been proven to be false, and that your network refuses to publish. And yet you won’t publish that 12 cell phones wiped by prosecutors. Prosecutors don’t wipe cell phones, Jonathan, by accident. Not 12 of them. What the Mueller people were doing is obstructing justice as we said. They were Democratic operatives posing as prosecutors.
CAPEHART: Mayor Giuliani, I need to —
GIULIANI: But you don’t cover it, so your listeners never hear that.
CAPEHART: I’m not covering conspiracy theories, I’m not covering lies.
GIULIANI: But you decide what’s lies and conspiracy theories. Your viewers should get to decide that. Not from your biased, Democratic point of view, Jonathan.
