CNN’s ‘Newsroom,’ MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ Pile on O’Reilly (Due to Remarks on Race)

NewsBusters.org ^ | 9/25/2007 | Matthew Balan

[Pyro7480]

Less than a half-hour after Kiran Chetry and Roland Martin speculated whether O’Reilly’s recent comments on race would be the next "Imus Moment," the cast of MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" mocked the Fox News host. Co-host Mika Brzezinski put on her best Meryl Streep imitation after a clip of O’Reilly’s comments were played. "Oh, my God.... Wow... That's attractive," and also made an audible Al Gore-style sigh. Guest host Willie Geist went further. "Also, using the term 'blacks.’ I don't think anybody's said that since like 1973." Come again?

Brzezinski, Geist, and host Joe Scarborough discussed O’Reilly at the top of the 8 am Eastern hour on Tuesday’s "Morning Joe." While the cast played the O’Reilly clip for the first time, a caption spun O’Reilly’s words: "O’Reilly Shocked That Harlem Restaurant is ‘Normal’ (see above picture). The three were so "overwhelmed" by the clip that they played it again.

Following the above-mentioned "blacks" comment, Geist went even further over-the-top. "What, what was he expecting? You walk in, and they throw the food in the middle of the room and everybody just, it's a free for all. What did he think was going to happen?" Scarborough concluded the segment by imitating Brzezinski’s "drama queen" routine. "It is shocking. So, I've got chills right now, going up and down my back. I'm gonna throw it over to you all and think I'm gonna take a shower."

[Update, 7 pm Eastern: Hat-tip to NewsBusters reader bigtimer for putting this on our radar]

Later, during the 2pm Eastern hour of CNN’s "Newsroom" program, host Don Lemon interviewed fellow CNN host Rick Sanchez, who had covered the O’Reilly comments on the September 24 edition of his "Out in the Open" program (Roland Martin made an appearance on this program). Sanchez discussed a conversation he had with O’Reilly during an attempt to get him on the program. "He said, ‘Look, to be fair now,’ this is what he says. He said, ‘This is totally -- it was a totally benign conversation. There was absolutely no racist intent,’ and I agree with him, by the way. I don't think there was. And he goes on to say that, ‘Look, we didn't get any complaints at my radio station.' But, you know, obviously, you know, that may have to do with his audience as well."

So, Sanchez thought there was "no racist intent" in O’Reilly’s word, but then hints that O’Reilly’s radio audience may be as "racially insensitive" as O’Reilly was?

A transcript of the segment from Tuesday’s "Morning Joe" on MSNBC:

JOE SCARBOROUGH: You know, I just heard the most fascinating clip in my ear. Bill O'Reilly, on the syndicated talk show, on September the 19th, was describing a lunch with the Reverend Al Sharpton, and I will say no more; I'm just going to play it and let you be the judge of what he said.

BILL O'REILLY (voice-over): You know, I was up in Harlem a few weeks ago, and I actually had dinner with Al Sharpton, who is a very, very interesting guy, and he comes on The Factor a lot, and I treated him to dinner because he's made himself available to us, and I felt that I wanted to take him up there. And we went to Sylvia's, a very famous restaurant in Harlem. I had a great time. And all the people up there are tremendously respectful, they all watch The Factor. You know, when Sharpton and I walked in, it was, like, big commotion and everything, but everybody was very nice. And I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was -- it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship; it was the same. And that's really what this society is all about, now, here in the U.S.A. There's no difference. There's no difference. You know, we, there may be a cultural entertainment people...

SCARBOROGH: Now, stop that for a second.

O'REILLY: ...may gravitate toward different cultural entertainment.

SCARBOROUGH: I want you to stop that for a second. I want you to rewind that back. I want to play that again.

MIKA BREZEZINSKI: I think I heard it, I just need to hear it again.

WILLIE GEIST: He sounded surprised that it was...

BREZEZINSKI: Yeah.

GEIST: ...like, civilized, that they had waiters and tablecloths.

SCARBOROUGH: I wrote this down. He said, 'I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference' between a restaurant run by people of color.

BREZEZINSKI: No, he didn't say that. Have we misunderstood?

SCARBOROUGH: Well, let's, let's play it again.

BREZEZINSKI: Okay.

SCARBOROUGH: I'm serious, this is the first time we're hearing this.

O'REILLY (voice-over): You know, I was up in Harlem a few weeks ago, and I actually had dinner with Al Sharpton, who is a very, very interesting guy, and he comes on The Factor a lot, and I treated him to dinner because he's made himself available to us, and I felt that I wanted to take him up there. And we went to Sylvia's, a very famous restaurant in Harlem. I had a great time. And all the people up there are tremendously respectful, they all watch The Factor. You know, when Sharpton and I walked in, it was, like, big commotion and everything, but everybody was very nice. And I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean it was -- it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship; it was the same. And that's really what this society is all about, now...

SCARBOROUGH: So, anyway, he said...

O'REILLY (voice-over): ...here in the USA. There's no difference.

SCARBOROUGH: He said...

BRZEZINSKI: Oh, my God.

SCARBOROUGH: He could not...

BRZEZINSKI: Wow.

SCARBOROUGH: ...get over the fact that, his words, he could not get over the fact that there was no difference between that black restaurant and any other restaurant despite the fact, his words, despite the fact it was run by black people...

BREZEZINSKI: Hmm.

SCARBOROUGH: ...and the primary patrons...

BREZEZINSKI: That's attractive.

SCARBOROUGH: ...were black people.

GEIST: Sounds like Bill doesn't get up to Harlem a whole lot.

SCARBOROUGH: I don't think he does

BRZEZINSKI: It sounds like a lot of things are going on there, that I, I, I...

GEIST: Also, using the term 'blacks.' I don't think anybody's said that since like 1973.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, that, you know, it's just, it's very surprising that, that Bill O'Reilly would be stunned that you could go to a restaurant that is run by African Americans, and that it would be, his words again, 'I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between a black restaurant and a white restaurant.'

GEIST: What, what was he expecting? You walk in, and they throw the food in the middle of the room and everybody just, it's a free for all. What did he think was going to happen?

SCARBOROUGH: I don't know, he also was surprised that they were quote 'tremendously respectful.'

BRZEZINSKI: Oh great, here we go.

GEIST: Wow

BRZEZINSKI: I believe, whatever, it seems a little bit...

SCARBOROUGH: That's just strange. That's all I'm gonna say. Listen, O'Reilly is the king of cable, he's been number one for six years. That is fascinating, by the way, and I'm sure we're going to be hearing more about that throughout the day.

GEIST: And Sylvia's, of all places, which is, like, world famous, great restaurant. He was still surprised.

SCARBOROUGH: He could not get over the fact that there was no difference, even though the restaurant was run by black people.

BRZEZINSKI: Yeah, thanks, Bill O'Reilly. All righty.

SCARBOROUGH: It is shocking. So, I've got chills right now, going up and down my back. I'm gonna throw it over to you all, and think I'm gonna take a shower.

—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.

[Pyro7480]

MSM is at it again. O'Reilly is wrong about FR, but he is only part of this equation.

[Pyro7480]

Bad link about to earlier Newsbusters post. It should be look like this: Less than a half-hour after Kiran Chetry and Roland Martin speculated whether O’Reilly’s recent comments on race would be the next "Imus Moment," the cast of MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" mocked the Fox News host.

[mdittmar]

O’Reilly needs a moderator.

[Tanniker Smith]

I treated him to dinner because he's made himself available to us, and I felt that I wanted to take him up there. And we went to Sylvia's, a very famous restaurant in Harlem. I had a great time.

OH MY GOD!! THE NERVE OF HIM!!!

[TornadoAlley3]

Was BOR expecting soul food?

[VR-21]

It started with Howard Cosell.

[BallyBill]

Maybe BOR can hope all the friends he has made will come to his defense.

[popdonnelly]

These people want to control everything you say. Personally, I watch neither of these networks because I object to their political bias. In addition to being biased and underhanded, they’re probably intensely jealous of O’Reilly’s ratings.

[FlingWingFlyer]

You know Americans are winning when the jackasses in the so-called “media” start taking potshots at each other instead of taking potshots at us.

[South40]

Also, using the term 'blacks.’ I don't think anybody's said that since like 1973."

The word is said almost every day in my house and I am Black.

[biscuit jane]

Well I think it was Churchill that said :

“if you stop to sail a rock at every dog that barks at you
you’ll never finish your journey...”

BOR sounds foolish in that clip. But really why does anyone care. WHy does the MSM chuck rocks at him for this ?

Guess they just have to FIND something to bloviate about while they’re trying to gain relevance !

[padre35]

Of all the things, perhaps morning joe could stop kissing Hilliary’s posterior long enough to actually check to see if Hsu’s money is actually “returned to the donors or given to charity”?

I used to like Scarborough, now he is sort of pitiable really.

[clintonh8r]

Was Joe this stupid before he became a liberal?

note to Geist: I always say "black." African American is a waste a syllables. In addition to being inaccurate. Unless you're talking about an American citizen who was actually born in Africa.

[biscuit jane]

quote:
“The word is said almost every day in my house and I am Black.”

Indeed. I you are obviously not *black enough !

*err, of sufficient internal pigmentation.

[George W. Bush]

So many drama queens, so little time...

[South40]

note to Geist: I always say "black." African American is a waste a syllables. In addition to being inaccurate. Unless you're talking about an American citizen who was actually born in Africa.

Good point. What about us Jamaican-Americans? My family is from Jamaica, not Africa.

[Crawdad]

Don’t those goobers know they’re just going to make more people watch BOR? What complete moe-rons.

[George W. Bush]

The word is said almost every day in my house and I am Black.

Maybe I'm just not keeping up but my recollection is that "African-American" only started to be used much in mainstream media in the Nineties. Not the Seventies. Is my memory going or what?

[biscuit jane]

“note to Geist: I always say “black.” African American is a waste a syllables. In addition to being inaccurate. Unless you’re talking about an American citizen who was actually born in Africa.”

I say black because I have eliminated hyphenated Americans from my word-diet. I also use other color descriptions when relevant.

When I was in West Africa was I an American-African ??

No.

[South40]

Who is African American?
Since 1977, the United States officially categorized Black people (revised to Black or African American in 1997) are classified as A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa..[1] Other Federal offices, such as the United States Census Bureau and the adheres to the OMB standards on race in its data collection and tabulations efforts.[47] The U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation also categorizes Black or African-American people as "A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa" through racial categories used in the UCR Program adopted from the Statistical Policy Handbook (1978) and published by the Office of Federal Statistical Policy and Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce derived from the 1977 OMB classification.[48]

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