The Trump administration continues to refuse to confront Saudi Arabia over their widely reported role in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and MSNBC’s Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski is among the many Americans who’ve had enough. This Wednesday morning on her show, she ranted against Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the point of getting the show’s audio cut — but not before her animosity could show.
She commented:
‘I understand that Donald Trump doesn’t care, but why doesn’t Mike Pompeo care right now? Are the deflections that we just heard when he appeared on Fox & Friends — is that a patriot speaking? Or a wannabe dictator’s butt boy?’
Watch below.
.@morningmika just asked if Mike Pompeo is a “wannabe dictator’s butt boy,” as homophobic a term as I’ve heard on national morning television. @MSNBC tried and failed to censor it, and did not transcribe her remark in the closed captioning. #journalism pic.twitter.com/3zK7H8evjh
— G.E. Anderson (@g_e_anderson) December 12, 2018
Earlier in the morning, Pompeo had — as she mentioned — appeared on Fox, where he faced tough questioning over the administration’s continued public about-face over the murder. Although reports have even insisted that the CIA has concluded there’s a high probability Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman personally directed the operation to kill Khashoggi, Pompeo adamantly refused to take a firm stance on the matter.
His position reflects that of President Donald Trump himself. Previously pressed as to who should be held responsible for Khashoggi’s death if not the crown prince, he quipped that maybe the world at large should since it’s such a vicious place.
That’s just not the way it works.
After the show, Brzezinski apologized for her choice of language in response to criticism from journalist G.E. Anderson over its depiction of homosexuality as devilish.
She commented:
‘Totally agree with you – SUPER BAD choice of words .. I should have said “water boy”… like for football teams or something like that.. apologize to Senator Durbin too! SO SORRY!’
Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin had been speaking on the show right before they cut away to her remark.
No matter the host’s ranting or lack thereof, the issues with the Trump administration’s position on Saudi Arabia remain.
There is an abundance of evidence from literally around the world that the upper levels of the Saudi government pushed the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. He went into the Saudi consulate in Turkey and never came out — and the Saudis did not even have a fitting cover story ready to go. They brazenly proceeded with their actions and subsequent blocks on information related to the death, repeatedly changing their story after spending days even coming up with one.
Trump has justified his openness to the Saudis by pointing to an arms deal he signed with them towards the beginning of his presidency, but he routinely inflates the actual impact of that deal. Although he’s claimed it’s worth as much as $450 billion and stands to create one million jobs, its actual value is closer to $250 billion and the jobs claim is utterly ludicrous.
In reality, the Trump administration has the opportunity to hold a dictatorship accountable for their brutal murder of a journalist who dared disagree with them, and they’ve utterly failed to rise to the occasion. It’s salt in the wound left by Trump’s previous repeated dismissals of fundamental American political values.
Featured Image via YouTube screenshot
