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A former Congressman from Tennessee set off an internet firestorm when he appeared on Fox News remotely Thursday, with a portrait of former Chairman of the People’s Republic of China and founder of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Zedong in the background. Harold Ford Jr., a Democrat, represented Tennessee’s Ninth Congressional District for a decade, from 1997 to 2007. Now, he provides commentary frequently on Fox News. Fox News viewers noticed some strange background decor during Ford’s appearance on “Special Report” with Bret Baier Thursday. “Wow, [Harold Ford Jr.] rockin’ the Warhol Mao over the fireplace. I liked the Muhammad...

“ These people are sick! Former Tennessee Democrat Congressman Harold Ford Jr was interviewed on FOX this past week. It was quite an interview as WIBC.com reports:”

Former Democratic congressman and “Morning Joe” political analyst Harold Ford Jr. has been fired by Morgan Stanley. A Morgan Stanley spokesperson told the Huffington Post in an email: “He has been terminated for conduct inconsistent with our values and in violation of our policies.” According to the Huffington Post: At least one woman, who is not a Morgan Stanley employee but interacted with Ford in a professional capacity, was interviewed by Morgan Stanley's HR department as part of the investigation. In two interviews with HuffPost, the woman alleged that Ford engaged in harassment, intimidation, and forcibly grabbed her one evening...

Harold Ford, Jr. a former U.S. Democratic lawmaker turned investment banker, threatened to sue Morgan Stanley after he was fired from the bank for inappropriate conduct. A spokeswoman told Reuters on Thursday that Ford had been fired, saying that he was let go for "conduct inconsistent with our values and in violation of our policies." The news of Ford's departure was first reported by the Huffington Post, which cited interviews with an unnamed woman who claimed Ford harassed her on a night several years ago. Ford issued a statement to multiple media outlets that denies any allegations and threatens legal...

Former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) was fired from his job at Morgan Stanley after an investigation into a harassment complaint from a female co-worker, HuffPost reported Thursday. The woman, who requested to remain anonymous, alleged that Ford forcibly grabbed her one evening in Manhattan several years ago. She also accused Ford of harassment and intimidation, according to HuffPost. A spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley confirmed Ford’s firing, telling the news outlet he was terminated “for conduct inconsistent with our values and in violation of our policies.”

Trump surrogates have been accused of debasing themselves by supporting The Donald. But have any sunk so low as poor Harold Ford, Jr., the Hillary surrogate who humiliated himself today on national TV? Appearing on With All Due Respect, former Dem congressman Ford, disagreed with Rudy Giuliani’s statement made earlier in the day that Hillary Clinton could not get a security clearance given FBI Director Comey’s conclusion that she acted “extremely carelessly” in the handling of classified material. When Ford claimed that if he were Attorney General, he would hire Hillary for a sensitive position involving national security, it seemed...

Talk about your Hobson's Choice . . . on today's Morning Joe, Nicolle Wallace, citing GOP consultants, suggested that--other than social conservatives--Republicans concerned with foreign policy should consider supporting Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Hillary supporter Harold Ford, Jr. could be heard chiming in with a "well said." Wallace was echoing the argument laid out by Joe Scarborough: that on a range of issues from foreign intervention to Israel, taxing the rich to breaking up the banks, Clinton's positions are closer to those of the GOP establishment than Trump's. But Joe, Nicolle and those Republican consultants are forgetting one overriding...

Hillary Clinton's defense lawyers made a stunning appearance on today's Morning Joe, asserting that David Petraeus' mishandling of his emails was "worse" than what Hillary did, and arguing that she should not be charged. Oh, wait: those weren't Hillary's lawyers: they were NBC's Chuck Todd, and politician-turned-professor Harold Ford, Jr. Can anyone recall this level of naked partisan advocacy by an MTP host? And when Ford would not stop telling Joe Scarborough that he "had" to agree with Todd, Scarborough eventually snapped at Ford "you're a gd lawyer." View the video here.

Is the Hillary camp sensing mortal political danger over her role as "bully" [to use Maureen Dowd's term] toward Bill's women? The question arises given the agitation, defensiveness and anger displayed by the normally mild-mannered Harold Ford, Jr., a Hillary fan, on today's Morning Joe. Ford warning Joe Scarborough not to raise his voice to him? Ford defensively rejecting comparisons between Bill Clinton and Bill Cosby? Ford angrily rejecting Scarborough's suggestion that he's taking James Carville talking points in defending Hillary? Something's going on. Scarborough clearly hit a sore spot. Does Ford's defensiveness reflect shakiness across Hillary world? View the...

In her "heart?" Some cynical lawyerly types might say that presupposes a fact not in evidence . . . Is Harold Ford, Jr. auditioning for an appointment in a hoped-for Hillary administration? On Morning Joe of late, he's trying out a variety of dubious defenses. Last week, as we reported here, his line was that although Americans might see her as a "liar" and "dishonest," nobody thinks she's "unpatriotic." Today, he claimed that "in her heart" Hillary didn't intend to violate the law. Harold Ford, Jr., heart whisperer. View the video here.

How bad is it getting for Hillary when the best her defenders came come up with is Harold Ford Jr.'s formulation: okay, so the words most associated with her are "liar," "dishonest" and "untrustworthy" but, hey!—she's not "unpatriotic." On today's Morning Joe, after Ford resorted on Hillary's behalf to the last refuge of scoundrels, Joe Scarborough hit him with a killer question: does Ford think David Petraeus—who was convicted of a crime for improperly passing classified material--is a patriot? Ford had to acknowledge that he is, but when Harold tried to distinguish Hillary's actions from Petraeus', Scarborough swept in to...

Five days ago, this NewsBuster wrote that Harold Ford, Jr. "seems more interested in cultivating friends and avoiding offense than in saying anything interesting." On Morning Joe that day, Ford had managed to praise a trio of pols, even breaking out the old "my dear friend" line to describe one of them. When Ford employed the same shtick on today's show, Joe Scarborough eventually had enough, sarcastically asking Ford whether there's anyone he doesn't "like and respect." This morning, Ford variously praised "the great Tip O'Neill", said he has "great respect" for Patty Murray, and even professed "I like Paul...

Way to go out on a limb, Harold!. . . Of all the Morning Joe regulars, Harold Ford, Jr. is on my short list of those who bring the least to the table. Ford seems more interested in cultivating friends and avoiding offense than in saying anything interesting or—heaven forfend—controversial. Ford took his penchant for finding something good to say about everyone to absurd new heights on today's show. On the one hand, Harold showed respect for Rand Paul's filibuster. On the other, he actually broke out the hoary "my dear friend" in saying he wasn't as worred about the...

Unusual candor from Mika Brzezinski and Harold Ford, Jr. on the double standard that exists for Republicans and Democrats. Discussing on today's Morning Joe the Obama administration memo that has been uncovered authorizing the use of drone strikes to kill U.S. citizens abroad, Mika admitted that there would have been a "huge controversy" if such a memo had surfaced during the Bush administration. Ford said that "Democrats have to think now about how they conducted themselves and the questions they raised about Bush administration tactics." Joe Scarborough flatly declared that had the policy come to light under Bush, it would...

Here in Chicago, I regularly meet with a group of friends who call themselves “The Think Squad”; these are men and women who are prominent members of the black community in Hyde Park and the City’s south side. None of them supported Barack Obama’s presidential bid in 2008 but most begrudgingly voted for him because they freely admit race-pride was their motivating factor. These people knew Obama when he was a state senator and saw him do absolutely nothing for blacks in Chicago back then…and they similarly saw Obama do nothing for blacks (or any of his constituents in general)...

Newark mayor Cory Booker may have been reduced to filming “hostage videos” in which he apologizes for throwing sharp spikes of reason and temperance beneath the madly spinning wheels of the Obama re-election bus, but the Booker Insurgency continues to grow. Harold Ford Jr., formerly a Democrat congressman from Tennessee, was welcomed to the ranks on Monday. Ford was no small-time back-bencher. He took a credible shot at wrestling House leadership away from Nancy Pelosi, and served as leader of the Democratic Leadership Council - a now-forgotten artifact of an earlier time, when there really were “moderates” in the Democrat...

Calling for higher taxes may bring applause at partisan political events, but it won't lower energy prices." I think all of the above energy strategy that Tom laid out and that the president articulates at times is not altogether pursued. Take for example the vote in the Senate last week. The deductions enjoyed by the oil companies are enjoyed by all U.S. manufacturers. So to single out oil companies at a time in which gas prices are high, in which our U.S. domestic industry, or to say domestic oil industry... MS. BRZEZINSKI: Eighty billion in profits. FMR. REP. FORD JR.:...

Of all the Morning Joe regulars, I find Harold Ford, Jr. the least interesting. Ever on the lookout for his next opportunity, the fiercely ambitious Ford is firmly of the "my good friend" so-and-so school of politics, constantly hedging his bets and finding a way to praise or agree with virtually everyone. So it was an exception this morning when the former Dem congressman from Tennessee actually said something of note, if only for its sheer silliness. Ford somehow managed to maintain a straight face while claiming the media doesn't strongly favor Barack Obama. View the video here.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address? FDR's day of infamy and nothing to fear but fear itself? JFK's ask not? Reagan's Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall? Meh. Not bad I suppose, but nothing compared with Barack Obama's immortal rhetoric, such as when he proclaimed, uh, like, when he intoned, that is . . . On today's Morning Joe, the unctuous Harold Ford, Jr. went into sycophantic overdrive, telling White House press secretary Jay Carney that President Obama is "the greatest orator that the office has ever known." View the video here.

That Donny Deutsch and Harold Ford, Jr. would jump to defend a Democrat who made a hideously impolitic remark, whereas they would have skewered a Republican saying the same thing, is altogether predictable. What's remarkable was that Mark Halperin called them out on it. It happened on Morning Joe today in the context of Dem PA Rep. Paul Kanjorski's comment yesterday that a housing bill he was advocating helped "good, average Americans" and not "minorities" or "defective people." Halperin was first to comment, and actually launched a pre-emptive strike against the double-standard, observing "this is one of those instances where...