File this one under NewsBusters' "Sudden Respect" rubric . . .
Morning Joe has a history of trashing Mitch McConnell, with Joe Scarborough having slimed him as "Moscow Mitch," and even more disgustingly, as "Chokehold Mitch."
But on today's show, Morning Joe went out of its way to praise the once [and future?] Senate Majority Leader for his advocacy of Covid vaccinations. In doing so, Morning Joe acknowledged that hearing praise of McConnell might be jarring for the show's liberal audience. As in this exchange between Scarborough and Jonathan Lemire:
SCARBOROUGH: People watching the show can have their laundry list of reasons for being against Mitch McConnell politically. Mitch McConnell on the vaccine, though, has been very consistent.
LEMIRE: I’m going to use a sentence here not uttered often on MSNBC airways, good for Mitch McConnell. This is something that is important.
SCARBOROUGH: Good for Mitch McConnell.
LEMIRE: I think there are plenty of reasons, politically, to disagree with things that Mitch McConnell has done, and certainly people watching this network let’s start with the Supreme Court, but this is someone who has — he’s been very consistent about this from day one.
McConnell came in for especial plaudits from the Morning Joe crew for having used some of his own campaign funds to pay for ads in his home state of Kentucky urging people to get vaccinated. Lemire attributed McConnell's support for vaccines to what he described as his "brush with polio as a youth."
Naturally, Morning Joe didn't stray too far from its Republican-trashing tradition. Liberal street cred had to be maintained, after all. Lemire chided:
This is something that is important. And he is doing it. And you’re right. I think there are plenty of reasons, politically, to disagree with things that Mitch McConnell has done, and certainly people watching this network, you know, let’s start with the Supreme Court.
Okay, we get it! You don't want to go too far with your McConnell praise.
Morning Joe's surprising praise for Mitch McConnell's Covid-vaccination advocacy was sponsored in part by Allstate and Expedia.
Here's the transcript. Click "expand" to read more.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
7/29/21
6:12 am EDTJOE SCARBOROUGH: Jonathan Lemire, Mitch McConnell, people watching the show can have their laundry list of reasons for being against Mitch McConnell politically. Mitch McConnell on the vaccine, though, has been very consistent. Just like he has been on January 6th, as far as his views of what happened on that day, regardless of what he did on the actual commission.
But on vaccines, very consistent. And here, even taking the dramatic step of using his own campaign money to advertise in his home state, telling people: get vaccinated. Get the rates of vaccinations up. Stop listening to the lies. Stop listening to the voodoo science. Stop following your cult leaders.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Yeah, Joe, I’m going to use a sentence here that is not uttered very often on MSNBC airwaves: good for Mitch McConnell.
SCARBOROUGH: [laughs] Good for Mitch McConnell.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.
LEMIRE: This is something that is important. And he is doing it. And you’re right. I think there are plenty of reasons, politically, to disagree with things that Mitch McConnell has done, and certainly people watching this network, you know, let’s start with the Supreme Court.
But this is someone who has — he’s been very consistent about this from day one, even though other voices in the Republican party were very quiet about vaccines. It’s based on Mcconnell’s, of course, brush with polio as a youth. He is someone who knows firsthand the importance of vaccines. He is someone who from the early days of the pandemic has suggested that people take appropriate safety measures. He would always wear a mask on the Hill.
And since the vaccine was developed, really was pushing his constituents and others to take it. Now, we've made a lot of, in the last week or two, a lot of Republican and conservative voices sort of coming there at last and saying the same. And look, better late than never, whether it's Sarah Sanders, or Steve Scalise, or Sean Hannity, whoever it might be, other conservative voices are saying now. But frankly McConnell has been saying this all along: get the vaccine. And to use campaign funds in order to take out these radio ads across Kentucky, a state with a lower vaccination rate, is a good thing.
