The Media Research Center offered relatively minimal defense of Nikki Haley during her Republican presidential primary campaign, especially in comparison to Ron DeSantis, whose campaign fizzled out well before Haley’s did despite all that alleged MRC firepower (including a fawning softball interview conducted by MRC chief Brent Bozell). When Haley offered her inevitable endorsement of Trump despite her criticism of him during the primary campaign, the MRC decided to weigh in over criticism of it. Mark Finkelstein’s May 23 post, however, was largely about attacking the critics:
Even by his unhinged standards, Joe Scarborough’s tirade against Nikki Haley on today’s Morning Joe was remarkable in its outrage. Scarborough was infuriated by Haley’s explanation yesterday of why she will be voting for Trump, after being increasingly critical of him during her primary run.
And for the second time this week, Scarborough resorted to vulgarity. On Tuesday, Scarborough called “bullshit” on claims Trump is the victim of a double standard in being prosecuted for actions others wouldn’t be. Today, he condemned letting “shit” roll in permitting Haley to get away with her flip-flop.Years ago, Morning Joe installed a seven-second delay when Scarborough dropped an f-bomb. Will that be replaced by a warning signal to Joe if the end of a show approaches without him unleashing an obscenity?
[…]Later, thrice-married adulterer Charlie Sykes sneered “this is peak Nikki Haley. She turns out to be very, very cheap date for Donald Trump…it’s so revealing about, first of all, you know, front and center, about her character.”
Try calling a liberal lady a “very very cheap date,” Charlie, and prepare to be flooded with accusations of sexism, misogyny, and slut-shaming.
We would remind Finkelstein that his MRC boss, Tim Graham, tried to slut-shame Monica Lewinsky over her dalliance with Bill Clinton, and he hasn’t said a peep about that (though Graham did get heavily ratioed over it). Finkelstein failed to mention that Trump is also a thrice-married adulterer, and he has never expressed any public concern about that — meaning that his raising that claim about Sykes is irrelevant to the conversation.