Mark Halperin, a senior political analyst for MSNBC, called President Obama “a d—” on Morning Joe and was indefinitely suspended.
“I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the president, to my MSNBC colleagues, and to the viewers. My remark was unacceptable, and I deeply regret it,” Halperin said in a statement.
On Thursday morning’s live show, Halperin asked host Joe Scarborough if they were broadcasting on a seven-second delay before saying, “I thought he was a d— yesterday.”
A producer apparently didn’t know where the delay button was, so it didn’t get pushed and Halperin’s expletive wasn’t bleeped out. “I would tell you what I think of you,” Scarborough said, addressing the control room over the air, “but you don’t know what button to push.”
Although Halperin, who’s also a Time magazine editor-at-large, issued an apology shortly after the comment, MSNBC decided to suspend him.
“Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the president, the White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air,” the network said in a statement.
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