Democratic Senate Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) stormed the Senate floor and ripped MSNBC’s Morning Joe a new for their fawning and slobbering interview of the Koch brothers.
Video:
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
On the floor of the Senate, Senate Minority Leader Reid said:
But that’s not all. The Kochs also have procured a media that is too intimidated by their billions to hold them accountable. Consider yesterday’s interview with MSNBC’s Morning Joe show. 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 it’s towards the arts or cancer research. Do you think you got that instinct from your mom?”
Mika asked:
“Sitting here in your childhood home, we have the Koch brothers. Which one was the good brother?”
Joe asked:
“You guys both play rugby together, right?
Sometimes they weren’t even questions – they were just compliments. At one point, Joe commented:
“You sound like my dad. That’s very diplomatic. That’s very good.”
Wow – those are some really tough questions asked by the hosts of Morning Joe. That’s tough journalism. Those questions are so easy, that 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 Kochs’ brothers and their billions. After all, we’ve seen how the Koch empire targets people, cities, and states that do anything that conflicts with the Koch brothers’ radical agenda. When the media rolls over for these modern day robber barons, as it is doing now, our country is in trouble.
As Charles Koch himself said, he and his brother are not spending this money for altruistic reasons – they are doing it for one reason only – for the profit of themselves and their fellow billionaires who have rigged the system against the middle class. They said it themselves – they want something in return. And what they want is profit for their corporations. Their own publicist once explained why the Koch brothers are trying to buy a new government: “It’s because we can make more profit, OK?” That’s what this is all about for Charles and David Koch. Bigger profits. More money. $100 billion isn’t enough for these two.
The Koch interview was an all time low for MSNBC because the Morning Joe team softballed them. There are numerous other journalists and hosts on MSNBC who would have done a better job, but it is clear that the Kochs wanted Joe and Mika because they did not want to be asked any difficult questions.
MSNBC should have been embarrassed by their Koch exclusive, and good for Harry Reid for his platform to call out the network for airing such a shameful display of sucking up to right wing billionaires.
The interview was a joke, but this is what can be expected out of the new MSNBC where Joe Scarborough has gained even more influence, and the truth is now a secondary concern to kissing up to billionaire right wingers.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
