The “Morning Joe” panel reacted with righteous indignation Monday over a viral video of local newscasters from Sinclair-owned stations parroting far-right anti-media talking points on air. There was broad agreement on set that the video suggested an assault on some of the most fundamental American values.
“You have now really kind of an unapologetic assault on truth as we’ve understood it in the country, an assault on reason an assault on the democratic — lower case D — norms that helped us build a country that people wanted to come to and built a society that conquered the Communistic one in the most existential struggle in human history,” said Jon Meacham, the show’s resident historian — who apologized for getting so heavy on a Monday morning.
“Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough agreement with the sentiment.
“Does that not remind you so much of what we as Americans and what those of us in the free world mocked from Soviet block country during 50, 45 years of the Cold War and we said, ‘that’s what separates us from them,’” said Scarborough.
In the spirit of modern times, Scarborough also floated the idea that “advertisers” should be bear some responsibility for reigning Sinclair in.
“I don’t think we should judge these people. I do think though that certainly they and all of us are on notice now,” he said. “There has to be, from within Sinclair or from outside from advertisers, there has to be an understanding that this Pravda-style propaganda has to stop.”
You can watch the original video which started it all here.
How America's largest local TV owner turned its news anchors into soldiers in Trump's war on the media: https://t.co/iLVtKRQycL pic.twitter.com/dMdSGellH3
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) March 31, 2018