‘Morning Joe’ Fakes Just Enough Outrage Over Biden’s Illegal, Dangerous Handling Of Classified Docs Before Excusing Him

There’s a delicate balance at play as more and more information dribbles out about Joe Biden having illegally retained unknown numbers of classified government documents as a private citizen: How much concern can the national media show without appearing to suggest in any way that he’s guilty of the same thing they’re hoping to see Donald Trump indicted for?

They know that after months of ceaseless heaving over Trump leaving the White House with documents he wasn’t entitled to keep, they can’t pooh-pooh it that Biden has been in illegal possession of government material for years after his stint as vice president in the Obama administration. At the same time, they can’t stray from the Trump-is-an-evil-without-peer line that they’ve been so committed to for seven years.

For everyone in the media struggling with this dynamic, you need look no further than the misfits of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” for help. On Monday’s show, they delivered a master course on how to fake just enough outrage over Biden, while simultaneously excusing him for the same behavior they claim makes Trump a democracy-ending fugitive.

As demonstrated by John Heilemann, Mika Brzezinski and Jonathan Lemire (the Grinch-looking Jonathan Lemire), the formula is to adopt a disapproving, grave tone. Focus not on illegally possessed or dangerously handled documents but on how White House officials discuss it; and then, finally, say that this is a disappointing mistake but not more. It’s even better if you have a few asides that make any commentary seem illogical.

Brzezinski:

Joe Biden … is very good at owning it and pushing for transparency. I believe the explanation is where things went wrong, honestly. The White House was very defensive, there was much pushing back, and lots of hedging. You can’t hedge in this situation. You’ve got to know your stuff. You’ve got to understand it and quite frankly, it might have been good to bring in someone who understands the handling of classified material…

Tsk, tsk. If only there hadn’t been so much hedging. Kudos on “owning it” The “transparency,” though!

Heilemann came next, with what can only have been described as a babbling stream of a response (generously cleaned for some clarity).

Yeah, Mika, I do think you’re putting your finger on something important, which is that, you know, Ron Klain, the White House chief of staff, is a lawyer and a really smart lawyer. And it seems like in how they’ve dealt with this — they have handled, in terms of ethics, in terms of transparency internally to the Justice Department, in terms of responsiveness, in terms of straightforwardness, on all the legal fronts, they have handled this extraordinarily well.

Heilemann, just like Brzezinski was certain to praise Biden before offering any criticism.

You can read more of his comments here

Public-facing parts

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases