EVERYONE'S a comedian, these days...even reporters...
Normally straight-laced, buttoned-up, all business Peter Alexander had his hosts cracking up on Hallie Jackson's morning show. Even better, he did it without missing a beat - so much so that it took an abnormally long time for them to realize he'd said something hilarious.
JACKSON: So it's one of those days where the top two headlines coming out of Washington are really interjecting into one.
ALEXANDER: I think there are legal experts who might suggest that the president would have been better off if the hush money was paid to Rudy Giuliani here. This has only further complicated these circumstances.
BWAH! Wait a minute... Back up! That was AWESOME!
Hallie Jackson lets out a giggle after a beat, then one of the panelist goes full guffaw once she realizes what the hell just came out of Alexander's mouth. So unexpected. So completely true. So very something you'd expect to hear come out of Stephen Colbert's mouth in a monologue.
JACKSON: Peter with the fire, ladies and gentlemen.
Then he goes continues not with humor, but with savage facts, pointing out the errors in the statements Giuliani has made, statements the "president" has made, and skewering Trump for telling people they should learn the facts before they speak.
ALEXANDER: But think it's fair to say it's only further complicated these circumstances here, the fact that Rudy Giuliani told our colleague, Kristen Welker, last night that the payments began in January of 2017, so that is after the election, that he was paying him $35,000 in 12 installments, which is significant because this potentially raises not just the issue of campaign finance violations, which someone initially suggested. But if this happened after the fact, the fact that the president has an ethical responsibility. There are ethics violations in not revealing liabilities of more than $10,000. The president's last form to this effect from June of last year had no mention of Michael Cohen on it. Again, just to get back to the fact that facts here matter, the president again saying learn before you speak. When the president spoke to us just moments ago as it relates to Bob Mueller, who he was, of course, disparaging suggesting even though was a Republican, that he worked for President Obama for eight years. Robert Mueller didn't work for President Obama for eight years. The president should know that. He was replaced by James Comey in 2013, he served his administration for four years, but, of course, was appointed by a Republican president before him.
MIC. DROP. You go, Peter Alexander. Newfound respect from this viewer outside the Beltway.
