Thread: Donald Trump: Mika must apologize for 'gang attack' on Pastor Mark Burns

Donald Trump: Mika must apologize for 'gang attack' on Pastor Mark Burns

by Brian Stelter @brianstelter August 28, 2016: 12:35 PM ET

Donald Trump says MSNBC and the co-host of "Morning Joe," Mika Brzezinski, should "immediately" apologize to one of his prominent supporters, Pastor Mark Burns.

The GOP nominee says Friday's interview of Burns was a "coordinated gang attack." In a statement on Sunday, Trump calls it "one of the most appalling things I have ever seen on television."

The segment was contentious, to say the least. The website Mediaite described the segment this way: "Brzezinski Browbeats Black Pro-Trump Pastor: Is It Racist, Yes or No?"

Burns made the TV news rounds last week supporting Trump's candidacy. In his "Morning Joe" appearance on Friday, Brzezinski asked Burns, when Trump "made the comments he made about the judge saying he was a Mexican, was that racist, or not?"

When he didn't immediately answer the question, Brzezinski interrupted: "I just want to know if it's racist or not, and then I can move on with the conversation, but I need to know where you stand on things in terms of reality. So were those comments racist or not?"

Burns avoided answering directly.

Later in the segment, one of the show's contributors, Mike Barnicle, asked Burns if he agreed with Trump's labeling of Clinton as a "bigot."

Brzezinski, Barnicle and Rev. Al Sharpton all pressed for an answer.

Burns said answering the question "doesn't solve" the problem of how to create more jobs for African-Americans.

"So why are we here on national television, wasting this wonderful time when we should be discussing" black unemployment, he said.

Brzezinski's co-host, Joe Scarborough, was off on Friday morning. That's why Trump's statement on Sunday focused on Brzezinski, whom he called "untalented."

"Liberals like Mika Brzezinski and MSNBC believe they are morally superior and will try to beat down those who are different," Trump said. "They only did this because Pastor Burns does not blindly follow what liberals want him to think or say. Pastor Burns deserves a public apology from Mika and MSNBC immediately."

Trump also called MSNBC and "Morning Joe" in particular "the propaganda arm of Hillary Clinton and her campaign."

MSNBC had no immediate comment on Sunday.

Related: Trump picks Twitter fight with Scarborough

The statement is notable because Trump previously had a very friendly relationship with "Morning Joe," calling into the show regularly during the primary season.

The relationship turned very tense in February, however, and has stayed that way almost ever since.

Earlier this week, Trump repeatedly attacked Brzezinski and Scarborough in highly personal ways on Twitter.

Trump also tweeted his dissatisfaction about the Burns interview after the show.

"Wonderful @pastormarkburns was attacked viciously and unfairly on @MSNBC by crazy @morningmika on low ratings @Morning_Joe. Apologize!" he wrote on Friday.

In Sunday's statement, though, he seemed to call the show highly-rated, saying the "disgusting" episode unfolded in front of "millions of viewers."

CNNMoney (New York) First published August 28, 2016: 11:11 AM ET

http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/28/medi...ka-brzezinski/

Burns avoided answering directly.

Burns did answer it directly. In fact he addressed it directly, fully and honestly and said "no it was not racist." He explained that in Trump's shoes where a judge is of Mexican heritage ruling what Trump thinks are unfair decisions, it is not racist to assume that there is a bias against him by the judge because he's of Mexican heritage because millions of those of Mexican heritage hate Trump because he's building the wall on the Mexican border to stop illegal immigration.

So, Brian Stellar lied about Burns answer in this CNN article.

I admire Trump so much for exposing this awful racist interview on MSNBC. I saw the interview live that morning and was completely appalled. It was a gang bang if there has even been one. I've never seem anything like it before on television.

Also, Trump did not imply that Morning Joe is "highly-rated", Brian. Just because you have millions of viewers, doesn't mean you are highly rated. Even networks and shows going out of business because of low ratings, still have a few million Trump Haters tuning in, plus the ones like me that want to keep up with the CORRUPT MEDIA CIRCUS in this election.

August 28, 2016 -
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Media Bias Offender: MSNBC’s Assault On Pastor Mark Burns

This Friday’s episode of MSNBC’s Morning Joe set the bar as low as it could possibly go. Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski unbelievably went into full meltdown mode and admitted she can’t fairly cover the election unbiasedly, before turning on Pastor Mark Burns.

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: And I can’t pretend and, sort of, try to cover this fairly and put into the veil of objectivity.

Those words actually came out of her mouth. A host of a cable news show covering an election admitted on live television in front of a national audience that she can’t or won’t cover the election fairly.

But MSNBC was far from done. As they promoted their exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton, they invited Pastor Mark Burns—a Trump surrogate and supporter—to talk about Mr. Trump’s outreach to the African American community. Instead of asking poignant and relevant questions, Brzezinski couldn’t even last 15 seconds before disrespecting Pastor Burns. MSNBC and Morning Joe brought him on the show to make a mockery of him on national television—to ridicule a man who teaches inclusion and tolerance in all aspects of his life. And they chose to do this to him, in front of a national audience. Pastor Burns is one of the most respected faith and community leaders in the nation and deserves respect and to be treated fairly and justly. This how Brzezinski started the interview.

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: [Pastor Mark Burns] spoke at the Republican National Convention and took part in yesterday's leadership initiative at Trump Tower. How did that meeting go? Are you hopeful that—I don't even know what to ask, actually. Your candidate is saying things…

It’s apparent that Morning Joe had an agenda and they lobbed a coordinated attack on Pastor Burns in order to discredit his views and support of Mr. Trump. After repeatedly interrupting Pastor Burns throughout the interview, Brzezinski ended the exchange by trying to shout him down—completely disrespecting him as the show went to commercial.

To end Morning Joe’s apoplectic episode, Hillary Clinton decided she’d call up her pals at MSNBC and answer “questions.” The ensuing interview made a mockery of presenting fair coverage for all candidates. Completely opposite of how Pastor Burns was treated, Brzezinski fawned over Secretary Clinton and asked softball questions that either praised Clinton or setup personal attacks on Mr. Trump. There was no impartiality. There was no fairness.

Voters expect media to be fair and unbiased. But maybe they’re expecting too much after watching one of the most appalling displays of vicious journalism in Morning Joe’s history.

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-r...offender-msnbc