Things Get Tense As Rob Reiner Spars With Brzezinski, Scarborough Over Trump Interview Tactics

The director of the new film Being Charlie stopped by MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Thursday morning to promote his newest project, and while there decided to rib the show’s hosts for their previous handling of Donald Trump.

Comedian Rob Reiner hit home the idea that the mainstream media in general has given far too many passes to Trump during difficult interviews, choosing not to hold the real estate mogul accountable for many of his conflicting responses. It was a claim that bothered both Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, and things got tense on the morning show as the conversation escalated.

“The words that have flung out from his mouth are insane!” Reiner said on the show. “If he was not a celebrity — if Donald Trump was not a celebrity… you’d see a lunatic on a soapbox in the park, and you’d walk right by him.”

Reiner even dinged MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki for an assertion he made on air recently to highlight the ratings windfall that will surely follow for a Clinton v. Trump general election debate. Reiner called for a more complete interview style with the controversial Trump, asking, “What we have to care about is: what does this man say?”

“Which of course we do,” clarified Scarborough.

“He’s not pinned down,” continued Reiner. “I want to hear how he’s going to deport twelve million people.”

Scarborough and Brzezinski were incredulous at the suggestion that they — or their peers on MSNBC, for that matter — haven’t held Trump to a high enough standard during tough interviews. The conversation on Morning Joe became a series of you-should-be-doing-this charges, which were all met with nice-try-but-we-always-do-that responses.

“I would bet you your proceeds from your next twenty films that I could find you any question that you bring up,” Scarborough fired back. “About the wall which Mika tried to nail him down on, the Muslim ban… we gave Bob Woodward twenty minutes!” he continued, speaking of the time that the legendary journalist grilled Trump on Morning Joe about his preparedness to go to war with Mexico over pecuniary concerns with the border wall.

“So the questions are asked, and they’re repeated,” Scarborough continued as the conversation turned awkward.

If looks could kill however, this would be an obituary of sorts for Reiner, seeing as how the disapproving facial expressions from Mika Brzezinski stole the whole interview. “You act like you’ve got some special sauce!” she charged at the comedian.

“Maybe I should stick my heel down [Trump’s] throat and tell him he’s not answering my question. Would that make you feel good? What planet am I on?” she continued. Brzezinski and Scarborough have both been charged with having too “cozy” a relationship with the controversial GOP frontrunner, an ongoing saga that embroiled the show’s hosts in headlines in February following the New Hampshire primary.

Watch the above exchange from MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

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J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) is an editorial producer and columnist at Mediaite.
[image via screengrab]

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