MSNBC suspends analyst Halperin for Obama remark

Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:45pm EDT

(Note strong language in paragraph 3)

NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) - Cable news channel MSNBC suspended political analyst Mark Halperin on Thursday hours after he used foul language to describe U.S. President Barack Obama on national television.

When asked on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program what he thought of Obama's news conference on the budget the day before, Halperin replied: "Are we on the seven-second delay today?" before adding, "I thought he was kind of a dick yesterday."

Realizing his remark was not bleeped out by the show's producers, he quickly apologized.

But the cable news network said Halperin was suspended indefinitely from his analyst role.

"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," MSNBC said in a statement.

During his news conference, Obama compared Senate Republicans to lazy schoolchildren as he urged Congress to get cracking on federal budget and deficit legislation.

Halperin said in a statement he agreed with MSNBC.

"I believe that the step they are taking in response is totally appropriate," he said. "My remark was unacceptable, and I deeply regret it."

MSNBC has suspended others in the past, including talk show host Keith Olbermann last year for campaign donations to Democrats. Olbermann later left the channel.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Doina Chiacu)

((nyc.buro@reuters.com; 1 646 223 6280; Reuters Messaging: Keywords: USA MEDIA/HALPERIN

(C) Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.

We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (5)
Zahdio wrote:
Very juvenile remark. Shows he’s not really ready for prime time.

Jun 30, 2011 2:18pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
wesatch wrote:
Besides what Halpren said, he is also gutless and a liar. never have so many campaign promises been broken. Wall street is still in control, Bernanke is still running amok, there are no jobs, China continues to export to us with subsidized prices and no job protection tariffs are cerated, two trillion has vanished from our treasury, we are still in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo. He lectures Congress like they are school kids. Stutters without a teleprompter. Actually points out that Congress is out of session and he is working? Who is he kidding, the vacation champ. Yep, come to think of it, Halpren is correct.

Jun 30, 2011 2:31pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
marshall53 wrote:
Set up and then thrown under the bus!

Jun 30, 2011 2:43pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.
See All Comments »