Kasie Hunt is billed as an MSNBC political "correspondent." But on today's Morning Joe, she mocked a leading Republican presidential candidate in a manner more befitting a late-night comedian trolling for laughs from his liberal crowd.
After rolling a clip of Ben Carson addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition yesterday in which Carson's pronunciation of "Hamas" left something to be desired, Hunt cracked "there were some questions afterwards in the room whether he was talking about the terrorist group, or the Middle Eastern food staple." WaPo columnist Gene Robinson gleefully joined in the derision, saying that when he was in Gaza he had "some very good hummus" and "I also met with a member of Hamas." A sighing, seemingly sympathetic Mika Brzezinski observed "it's just too easy."
Sure, Hunt tried to give herself some cover, staying deadpan and putting her laugh line in the mouths of "people in the room." But neither Hunt nor anyone else could possibly have been confused, given that Carson stated that "Hamas rules the Gaza strip."
It was disappointing to see the normally fair-minded Willie Geist getting in on the action, acting as straight man for Robinson. When Robinson said he was in Gaza once, Willie asked "how was the Hamas?"
Yes, it was fair game and appropriate to point out that Carson's struggle to pronounce Hamas could raise questions about his fluency with foreign policy. But Hunt and Robinson took it a step further. Could you imagine them pulling a similar stunt over the stumble of a favored Dem candidate?