Harry Reid Trolls Joe Scarborough Over ‘Morning Joe’s’ Pandering Koch Brothers Interview
Like him or hate him, one thing you have to say about Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is that he knows how to expertly get under the skin of those he dislikes. A day after MSNBC’s Morning Joe aired an exclusive joint interview with Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who Reid has incessantly targeted for years, the Nevada lawmaker decided to go into full troll mode and pester the program’s host for what was largely seen as a fawning lovefest.
Taking to his Twitter account Wednesday morning, Reid targeted Joe Scarborough for his softball questions and pandering tone in the interview, which was filmed in the brothers’ childhood home in Topeka, Kansas.
Hey @joenbc, that was some tough journalism in your interview with the Kochs. https://t.co/MCcCZZmqLb
— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid
Reid also sent out a number of tweets pointing out that the Kochs are on a PR campaign to make them seem more approachable and human, all while they plan on spending hundreds of millions of dollars this election season to buy races.
In their PR campaign, the Kochs have secured a media that is too intimidated to hold them accountable. Not me. https://t.co/7rklSeLuje — Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) November 4, 2015
By their own admission, the Kochs say they “want something in return” for political contributions. And that is to “make more profit, OK?”
— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) November 4, 2015
The Kochs will spend until they get the government they want. If media rolls over for them, our country’s in trouble https://t.co/ABLeJB86mh — Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) November 4, 2015
As one would expect, Joe wasn’t going to let this go without a response. He lobbed some greandes of his own on his Twitter account.
Hey Harry, sorry I can’t pull off that Joseph McCarthy routine as good as you hatefully calling people un-American. https://t.co/OJhlzYUnk9
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) November 4, 2015
Guess you’re still bitter because your dumb strategy to focus so much on the Kochs cost Democrats the majority #Duh https://t.co/OJhlzYUnk9 — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) November 4, 2015
Of course, Reid wasn’t done. Nope, not by a long shot. Later on in the day, he used some time on the Senate floor to slam Morning Joe over their lack of journalistic integrity, highlighting the inane questions asked of the Kochs and highly deferential way in which the interview was conducted.
Below is a transcript of some of his remarks, via Media Matters:
HARRY REID (D-NV): Mr. President, over the last several months, the Koch brothers have been on a public relations campaign. This Koch propaganda campaign has accelerated over the past few weeks.
[…]
The Kochs want everyone to believe they’re not the ones rigging the system to benefit themselves and their wealthy friends. The Koch brothers are spending their vast wealth holding newspaper and television interviews on their propaganda campaign. But in spite all of their efforts, this Koch media tour has failed to bury one simple truth: the Koch brothers are trying to buy America.
[…]
The Kochs have also procured a media that is intimidated by their billions — too intimidated to hold them accountable. Consider yesterday’s interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show. This is classic, listen. Here are some of the questions that Joe and Mika asked the Koch brothers. Joe Scarborough asked, “It’s hard to find people in New York, liberals — we were talking about this before — liberals or conservatives alike, who haven’t been touched by your graciousness, whether its toward the arts or cancer research. Do you think you got that instinct from your mom?” Huh. Mika asked, “Sitting here in your childhood home” — they were doing this interview in Topeka, Kansas — “we have the Koch brothers, which was the good brother?” Another tough question. Joe then asked, “You guys both play rugby, right? Play together?”
Sometimes, most of the time, they weren’t even questions, they were just compliments.
[…]
Wow, those were some really tough questions asked by the hosts of Morning Joe. That’s tough journalism. Those questions are so easy, they may even qualify them to moderate the next Republican presidential debate. It seems that some journalists are determined not to get on the wrong side of the Koch brothers and their billions.
[…]
When the media rolls over for these modern day robber barons, as it’s doing now, our country’s in trouble.
Below is video of his remarks, also courtesy of Media Matters:
I guarantee this is not the end of this. Not by a long shot. Expect Joe to rant about this at length Thursday morning.
