‘Don’t Mess With Me!’ Mika Hammers Christie Over ‘Dishonest 9th-Month’ Abortion Argument

Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski got into it with former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) over the “dishonest ninth-month abortion argument” he advanced during a debate.

NBC News hosted a Republican presidential primary debate Wednesday night that featured periodic fireworks between the five current runners-up — just a day after the GOP got clobbered in off-year elections on the issue of abortion.

On Thursday morning’s edition of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Brzezinski confronted Christie over his attempt to reframe the issue during the debate by using a popular anti-abortion argument — that states with no set gestational limit “allows abortion up to the ninth month.”

Brzezinski called Christie “dishonest,” pointed out there has never been an abortion in the ninth month and snapped back at him when he insisted she not “mess with” him on the law:

BRZEZINSKI: Yes.

Another issue that you talked about last night was abortion. You and I disagree on this issue. But the one thing you keep saying is, you keep talking about abortion in the ninth month, which is allowed in your state. And the last time I asked you to like bring me the case where a woman walked into a doctor’s office in the ninth month and said I’ve decided I don’t want to have a baby, please take this out. It doesn’t happen. Less than 1 percent of abortions are performed after 21 weeks.

CHRISTIE: Well – yes.

BRZEZINSKI: And if there is a situation like that, it’s because there is a massive emergency. So, I just think, of all the candidates, you’ve been the most honest about Trump and election integrity, but in this one respect I have to call you out because you’re not being honest on the issue. We can debate abortion, but there isn’t abortion in the ninth month.

CHRISTIE: Mika, you’re the one who’s not being honest. I did not say there was abortion in the ninth month. What I said was that the law in New Jersey and New York and Illinois and California permits it.

BRZEZINSKI: Right. And –

CHRISTIE: And you can’t deny that that’s the truth because it is. And so – and so, look, you know, don’t call somebody a liar –

BRZEZINSKI: It doesn’t happen, Chris.

CHRISTIE: Don’t call – don’t call some –

BRZEZINSKI: I’m not calling you a lair. I – it’s not honest.

CHRISTIE: No, no, and I – nor did I – by the way, nor – no, no, no, Mika, nor did I say that it did.

BRZEZINSKI: Let’s have an honest discussion about the issue.

CHRISTIE: The law permits it. Well – well, let’s have an honest – well, let’s have an honest discussion about the issue.

BRZEZINSKI: But it doesn’t happen. There are –

CHRISTIE: Why don’t you answer my question? Why don’t you answer my question?

BRZEZINSKI: Yes.

CHRISTIE: Does the law permit it in those states? Well, that’s all I said. So I don’t understand what your problem is with that. In the end, if that’s what the law permits, that’s what the people who passed those laws said is OK, is legally permissible. That’s the point I’m making.

BRZEZINSKI: Because, Chris, you’re painting a picture about the issue of abortion that is not honest. And this is a health issue for women.

CHRISTIE: No. No. You’re – you’re painting – no —

BRZEZINSKI: And there are women who are in extreme situations who need healthcare, and they should get it. We can debate that.

CHRISTIE: You’re painting – you’re painting a picture —

BRZEZINSKI: But there are not women in the state of New Jersey trouncing into doctor’s offices asking for abortions in the ninth month. It doesn’t happen.

CHRISTIE: And – and – and – and by the way, you know, you could continue to set up that straw man for yourself to knock it down because you’re mischaracterizing what I said. I am giving you the state of the law. And the state of the law in those states are that you could go into a doctor’s office and do it. And that’s all I said.

But, look, you know, this is something that you want to emphasize. I get it. I understand the politics of it, and that’s fine. But it’s not going to change my analysis as a lawyer and as a political leader.

BRZEZINSKI: So, no, it’s not – it’s not politics. It’s really personal, actually, for women.

CHRISTIE: That’s what it is. It is. No. No. And, you know, listen –

BRZEZINSKI: And you’re the one who’s going to lose on the issue if you’re not honest about it. So, I mean, listen, you can go ahead and do that if you want, but –

CHRISTIE: I’m – well, look – well, no, no. Point out — point out — Mika, point out to me – point out to me where I wasn’t honest. I said what the state of the law is. Now, you want to deny that because you know it’s miserably unpopular for the state of the law to be in that position, but that’s what the state of the law is.

Now, you could argue about how many people are going to take advantage of it or not. I think it’s wrong for anybody to be able to take advantage of an abortion in the ninth month of pregnancy. And I think it’s wrong for the law to be there.

But, you know, these are the kind of debates I would love to have on the stage with Donald Trump and others. And if your viewers this morning go to chrischristie.com and donate a dollar, I’ll be on the stage again on – in December in Alabama. And then maybe we can even get you up there. We can debate the state of the law on the issue –

BRZEZINSKI: Exactly.

CHRISTIE: But don’t mess with me on the law, Mika, I know that.

BRZEZINSKI: Yes, don’t mess with me on how women feel about using the ninth month argument on the issue of abortion.

CHRISTIE: And –

BRZEZINSKI: We can disagree.

CHRISTIE: And I’m not.

Watch above via MSNBC’s Morning Joe.