This morning, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist, and Mike Barnicle discussed the president’s Sunday show rounds and the absence of FOX from his schedule. After showing the clip of Chris Wallace calling the White House “cry babies,” the conversation moved to a discussion about the president’s decision. Here’s an excerpt of the initial exchange:
Scarborough: Chris Wallace shouldn’t be so shocked and stunned. I mean, if I were…a republican president, there would be some outlets I’d avoid. There would be some reporters I’d avoid.
Brzezinski: I’d avoid that network, I would. If they–
AdvertisementScarborough: What network?
Brzezinski: The one with the producer doing that and all the other stuff they do.
Scarborough: I think they’d avoid you as well.
After a moment, Barnicle asked, “Let me ask you, Joe. You’re advising President Barack Obama. Where do you send him first?”
“Meet the Press,” said Joe. Barnicle said he’d put him “on to Fox News,” which surprised Scarborough.
“I put him right on there. Get right in there. Look ’em right in the eye. Sit down and look ’em right in the eye,” said Barnicle.
A few minutes later, the FOX topic came up again in a conversation with David Gregory:
After the jump, another excerpt from the conversation about Roger Ailes and Glenn Beck.
Geist: Chris Wallace is not Glenn beck. I think we would agree he’s a fair and good interviewer. His argument is ‘come to me. Don’t go to Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly. Come to me.’
Scarborough: Can we talk about Roger Ailes? He has built this — it’s like I liken it on radio to the big red machine in the 1970s. He’s built this incredible team. You plug people in, they become stars. So Glenn Beck’s walking around now feeling all puffed up. Everybody forgets that before Roger had Glenn, [Glenn] was withering over at Headline News.
They continued:
Scarborough: Glenn Beck sets his hair on fire, and suddenly he’s on the cover of TIME magazine. Roger has built just a machine over there.
Barnicle: Because he’s a genius as well as a pretty good guy.