Of all the Morning Joe crew, you might be surprised to learn that it was liberal Dem Mika Brzezinski who this morning took the toughest shots at CNN and Buzzfeed for publishing unverified stories containing salacious allegations regarding Donald Trump’s business dealings with, and personal behavior in, Russia.
Mika also speculated that the intelligence community might have propagated the story as payback for Trump having insulted them.
Brzezinski first wondered whether CNN and Buzzfeed went with the story “because they hate [Trump] so much, or is the intelligence community literally putting the screws to Donald Trump because he insulted them?”
Later, Mika said that the news organizations that put the story out “are continuing to make the same mistakes they have made in the run-up to this election which is let their bias get in the way of actually finding out what facts are.”
Mika made clear that she felt uncomfortable with the degree to which Morning Joe itself had been discussing the story this morning: “even if we continue this conversation we’re a part of it . . . the whole thing has felt wrong from the beginning of this show.”
Note: you’ll hear Mika make reference to Tom Brokaw and Richard Engel working on the story. During the show, Brokaw mentioned that he has been working with Engel to try to verify the story but have so far been unable to do so.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: You could say the same to some news organizations? What’s the real story? What’s the real story? Is there a story there or is there just not a story there that they want to put out there because they hate him so much. Or is the intelligence community literally putting the screws to Donald Trump because he insulted them? There are so many layers happening here.EUGENE ROBINSON: Lots of possibilities.MIKA: Lot of possibilities.JOE SCARBOROUGH: There are a lot of possibilities. I think you also look –MIKA: But it’s so outlandish that we ought to be so careful.. . .MIKA: Look, Tom, I agree: you and Engel, I mean, everybody should work on stories that look like they’re worth looking into and we should continue to do so. And when you can triple source it and you have evidence then you have a story. Right now there’s no story here. And I think the people who are going with it at this point and even if we continue this conversation we’re a part of it, but the two outlets that are actually going with this and releasing it are continuing to make the same mistakes that they have made in the run-up to this election, which is let their bias get in the way of actually finding out what facts are and putting them out there. This is, the whole — the whole thing has felt wrong from the beginning of this show.
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