Tim touched upon this over the Thanksgiving holiday. MSNBC’s Morning Joe was caught faking a “live” broadcast the Friday after Turkey Day. The first clue was that they didn’t even mention the horrific terrorist attack that occurred at an Egyptian mosque that killed over 300 people. The Washington Post cryptically added that a “longtime viewer” tipped them off about the non-live broadcast:
A longtime viewer of the program noticed that Friday’s edition had none of the usual discussion of breaking news and contacted The Washington Post to inquire if “Morning Joe” was presenting “fake news.” He said he was surprised to see Scarborough and Brzezinski appearing in a New York studio on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
“I was quite flabbergasted by the way they were so deceptive about this...especially when they are always so quick to castigate lying [or] deception they attribute to others,” said the viewer, who asked not to be identified.
Well, come Monday, the hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough instead of apologizing for not making it clear that last Fridays broadcast was pre-recorded, which isn’t hard—they decided to go after Donald Trump for their gaffe. Eric Scheiner at the Media Research Center clipped and transcribed the tantrum:
Joe Scarborough: Do you believe those people?
Mika Brzezinski: They're crazy.
Joe: Did you see this?
Jon Heilmann: Which people?
Joe: There were couple people that were like --
Mika: ‘Fake show.’
Joe: Every time we do a Thanksgiving show --
Mika: We tape it.
Joe: We tape it because --
Mika: Then we make fun of the fact that we're taping it.
Joe: How was your dinner? Oh, I am stuffed and then Willie will always go, but, boy, that game last night. And I'll go oh, what a -- it's very obvious. You would have to be extraordinarily thick--
Mika: A moron. Maybe Trump was watching and -- oh, my god, that's it.
[…]
Joe: Their source was a shocked and stunned and deeply saddened unnamed viewer.
Mika: A moron.
Joe: Who didn't wish to be identified.
Mika: It was a moron!
Jon: I have a confession to make.
Mika: No.
Joe: Can you believe that?
Mika: It was definitely the President of the United States.
Guys, it’s not that hard. We all don’t blame you for not actually being at work the day after Thanksgiving. It’s a time for family; just say it was pre-recorded and move on. Instead, they threw a little tantrum for being called out. Talk about an overreaction, which is par for the course on MSNBC.