August 29, 2016

I am not sure how MSNBC host Kristen Welker endured well over five minutes of Trump surrogate and pastor Mark Burns utterly losing his mind and screaming at her when she asked him to defend this tweet:

https://twitter.com/pastormarkburns/status/770316740509233152

Yes, that is Hillary Clinton in blackface, and it's offensive on so many levels. Welker was doing her best to get this "pastor" to admit that it was unhelpful to an overall discussion about racism.

But instead of defending that tweet, Burns decided just to shout as loud as he could about whatever he felt like shouting about. I've included a small clip of Burns' tirade above, but it actually went for well over five minutes.

At one point, Burns asked Welker, "Tell me, where are your ancestors from?"

After a pause, she answered, "I have a lot of ancestors. We are almost out of time. I have a lot of ancestors. Pastor Burns, let's stay on the topic."

She was clearly ready to cut him off, but he went on and on about how Trump speaks to all Americans (he doesn't), and then started pledging allegiance to prove he's more American than anyone else.

Here's some advice for MSNBC. First, don't put this guy on the air anymore. He's a misogynist and a demagogue. Second, when guests start that crap, let your hosts cut them off. This was offensive on so many levels it's hard to even explain.

Beyond that, this "pastor" is unhinged. If he wants to give sermons, he can do that from the pulpit. Other than that, he should have no bandwidth at all. He came off as a misogynist and a bully, which of course fits with the Trump campaign but is not at all helpful to our national discourse.

Endnote: The Bill Clinton incident Burns refers to has been debunked for years, but it's clear Burns just listens to Alex Jones.

Update: The tweet has been deleted and Pastor Burns posted an apology for the tweet. He owes Welker a personal apology as well.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon