On this Easter Sunday, when Christians reflected on Jesus's resurrection, MSNBC thought it appropriate to ambush special counsel Robert Mueller as he was leaving church in Washington, D.C.
"Will you testify before Congress sir," NBC News correspondent Mike Viqueira asked Mueller as he was trying to get in to his car with his family.
When Mueller replied, "no comment," Viqueira asked if he was "sure about that."
Still no answer, but still the reporter persisted.
"If he were anyone but the president would Mr. Trump be indicted sir?"
Mueller painstakingly waited for his car door to open as Viqueira continued his interrogation.
In his summary about the encounter, the reporter laughed at how Mueller was "tight-lipped" about the investigation. You could hear in-studio host Joy Reid chuckling along with him.
Outraged viewers likened it to a TMZ-like stunt and characterized the ambush as "embarrassing," "inappropriate" and out of place.
Actress Patricia Heaton couldn't agree more, and added that MSNBC's action was even less appropriate on this particular Sunday, when hundreds of people were murdered in Sri Lanka in a series of ghastly bombings. She wondered what on earth the network was thinking.
Hello @MSNBC. Today is Easter Sunday, the holiest day of the Christian calendar. Some of the faithful were murdered today while they worshiped. But you ambush Robert Mueller outside of his church and chuckle about it afterward. This is loathesome. Shame on you. https://t.co/30BAoivnVp
— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) April 21, 2019
During the broadcast, Viqueira must have gotten wind of how poorly his behavior had been received, because he later told Reid that his encounter with Mueller may be "characterized as an ambush interview" by some viewers.