Mika Brzezinski Calls Out Bloomberg for Only Doing Interviews With ‘Personal Friends’ (Stephanie Ruhle?)
Mika Brzezinski was clearly not impressed with the Wednesday night debate performance by Mike Bloomberg and in calling out his preparation, appeared to throw a bit of shade to fellow MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle.
Brzezinski opened by lauding Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (R-MA) “incredible job” for going after Bloomberg’s NDAs and his leadership quality, before posing some broader and more serious questions about the former New York City’s candidacy and “the problem he poses for the Democratic Party.”
She then cited Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) dig that Bloomberg has “been hiding behind the ads,” before noting “this was his first foray into the national stage. He should have dealt with these questions.”
She then suggested that Bloomberg should have done interviews “beyond with personal friends. He should have come on Morning Joe, gone on other shows and gotten through this stuff, and figured out whether or not he can deal with it.”
Bloomberg has done very few interviews, most notably with CBS’s Gayle King but it was his late December interview with MSNBC’s Ruhle that reasonable people might think Mika was mentioning. Ruhle is a former morning anchor for the Bloomberg network and has often lauded her appreciation and respect for her former boss.
During an interview with Hugh Hewitt in early 2019, Ruhle gushed over her relationship with Bloomberg and even expressed openness to serving as his Press Secretary. Writing for the Washington Post, Erik Wemple reports:
Unaware of Ruhle’s history with Bloomberg, Hewitt asked if Ruhle would work as press secretary in a Bloomberg White House. “I would definitely be open to it,” said Ruhle. Based on that comment, the transcribed conversation was packaged on Hewitt’s site under the headline, “Stephanie Ruhle on Michael Bloomberg: Is Press Secretary Ruhle In The Future?”
It’s not quite accurate to say that Brzezinski was being harsh on her fellow colleague, but she was clear in her point that Bloomberg may have performed better at Wednesday night’s debate had he been prepared by tougher questions than he had faced in prior interviews.
Update:
Ruhle addressed this during panel discussion on Bloomberg for MSNBC Live, and accused Hewitt of not giving the full context of her remarks. As she acknowledged that she used to work for Bloomberg News, Ruhle struck back at the “absurd” headlines Hewitt generated by insinuating that she’s actively pursuing the job.
“I jokingly said ‘sure I’m open to anything.’ I see headlines already saying I’m up for that job. That’s absurd, and as a private citizen, if any sitting president called me for a meeting on any job, I would obviously take that meeting. Hugh Hewitt, shame on you. This is a false headline”
Watch above via MSNBC.
