On Thursday, Morning Joe co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough pleaded for President Biden to skip Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner out of fear of COVID. The MSNBC couple repeatedly told Biden not to attend and just send a “videotape” in order to “stay away from the mess” of the crowded Washington D.C. gala.
“Anthony Fauci is not going to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this weekend but the president is,” Brzezinski noted late in the 9:00 a.m. ET hour of the show. She then fretted to her husband and co-host: “I’m not sure about it. Joe, I know you want to jump in. I’m not sure about the decision to have the White House Correspondents’ Dinner event, I’m really not. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Scarborough agreed: “Let me just throw the baseball in the punch bowl and say the president should not go to the event.” Brzezinski proclaimed that the whole dinner should be cancelled: “They shouldn’t have the event!”
“There’s no reason why he should go to the event. I mean, we’ve all been in that event before. Even when there wasn’t a pandemic it was unhealthy. I mean, people are so tight and jammed and close in there,” Scarborough declared. He then implored the White House:
I think the President – and I’m dead serious – I think the President, Willie, should do a video. I think he should thank everybody, he should say what he’s going to say, but when you have the Vice President of the United States with COVID, when you have the President of the United States in a high-risk group, there is no reason for him to go to that event. Put it on a videotape....The President doesn’t need to go there. Not healthy. Not prudent.
Co-host Willie Geist concurred with his colleagues, though did suggest that the left-wing media could use a pep-talk from a Democratic president: “...first of all, we all appreciate, I think, the support and the gesture of the President showing up to support journalists whose work is difficult and hard, especially in places like Ukraine, but also to an industry that’s been under fire from the previous president. So certainly we all, I think, appreciate that.”
He then added: “But having said that, I don’t know that it’s worth it to expose the President to that room on that night and we’ll see if he does end up going.”
Brzezinski wailed: “...it is too soon to be having a White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. It’s too soon because everyone gets all packed in there and they’re all excited to see each other, some people have a few too many drinks and it’s just a mess.”
Scarborough concluded: “It’s just a mess. So Mr. President, stay away from the mess, okay? Don’t go to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”
Left-wing Daily Show host Trevor Noah will be emceeing Saturday’s gathering of the D.C. elite, so there’s certainly no chance of Biden being subjected to any rough treatment from overwhelmingly friendly crowd.
When former President Trump skipped the 2017 White House Correspondents’ Dinner during his first year in office, the media suffered a complete meltdown. Granted there was no pandemic at the time, but hysterical reporters like Brian Stelter smeared Trump as a threat to the health of the country.
Morning Joe urging Biden to stay in the bunker rather than hob-nob with a “mess” of media elites was brought to viewers by Therabreath and The Farmer’s Dog. You can fight back by letting these advertisers know what you think of them sponsoring such content.
Here is a transcript of the April 28 discussion:
9:43 AM ET
(...)
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Anthony Fauci is not going to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this weekend but the president is, Peter Baker. You and I were just talking about this.
PETER BAKER [THE NEW YORK TIMES]: Yeah.
BRZEZINSKI: So it’s this reality that, yes, the pandemic has crested in many ways, data showing that. Data also showing that people are still in hospitals.
BAKER: Yeah.
BRZEZINSKI: Some people are still dying from COVID.
BAKER: Absolutely. Three hundred people are dying a day. It’s not, obviously, anywhere near where it was at the peak, but that’s still a danger for a lot of people.
BRZEZINSKI: It could be more of like a flu-type number.
BAKER: Right, right. But more vulnerable categories in particular.
BRZEZINSKI: Right.
BAKER: And you would think a 79-year-old president might be in the vulnerable category but they’ve decided it’s worth him going. They’re not going to let him stay for the meal. Now a lot of people will say that’s probably a good thing for other reasons as well. [Laughter] But they’re trying to find some way of balancing it out. But he’s gonna be there for the evening with 2,600 people in a big ballroom. It’s a real interesting decision on their part.
BRZEZINSKI: Yeah, I’m not sure about it. Joe, I know you want to jump in. I’m not sure about the decision to have the White House Correspondents’ Dinner event, I’m really not.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, let me just say it here –
BRZEZINSKI: I don’t think it’s a good idea.
SCARBOROUGH: Let me just throw the baseball in the punch bowl and say the president should not go to the event.
BRZEZINSKI: They shouldn’t have the event!
SCARBOROUGH: There’s no reason why he should go to the event. I mean, we’ve all been in that event before. Even when there wasn’t a pandemic it was unhealthy. I mean, people are so tight and jammed and close in there.
BRZEZINSKI: And drinking.
SCARBOROUGH: I think the President – and I’m dead serious – I think the President, Willie, should do a video. I think he should thank everybody, he should say what he’s going to say, but when you have the Vice President of the United States with COVID, when you have the President of the United States in a high-risk group, there is no reason for him to go to that event. Put it on a videotape. Get the VCR or the beta, I don’t know what format they use at the Hilton, push it in, press play, and let them see the President. The President doesn’t need to go there. Not healthy. Not prudent. Wouldn’t be prudent.
WILLIE GEIST: In the words of another president. I agree with you. I agree with both of you about this. I – first of all, we all appreciate, I think, the support and the gesture of the President showing up to support journalists whose work is difficult and hard, especially in places like Ukraine, but also to an industry that’s been under fire from the previous president. So certainly we all, I think, appreciate that. But having said that, I don’t know that it’s worth it to expose the President to that room on that night and we’ll see if he does end up going.
(...)
9:46 AM ET
BRZEZINSKI: Joe, let me just make one little point. I want – because not to be a complete hypocrite, I’m here in Washington, where I was attending events. And I am telling you that my experience here in Washington at events is that it doesn’t feel – people’s guard gets down, the masks come off, it is too soon to be having a White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. It’s too soon because everyone gets all packed in there and they’re all excited to see each other, some people have a few too many drinks and it’s just a mess.
SCARBOROUGH: It’s just a mess. So Mr. President, stay away from the mess, okay? Don’t go to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Don’t go to clubs. Don’t do any raves for a while. Wait a couple of weeks. You’ll thank yourself and America will thank you as well.
(...)
