MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” panel spent just eight minutes covering the news of Hunter Biden’s sweetheart deal with the DOJ after he was charged on Tuesday.
Hunter was charged with illegally possessing a handgun while on drugs in 2018 and failure to pay federal taxes in 2017 and 2018.
The news broke on “Morning Joe” at 9:26 a.m.
“Breaking news: the Trump appointed U.S. attorney for Delaware has reached a plea agreement with Hunter Biden in which he is expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of failing to pay his taxes,” Brzezinski said. “Hunter Biden also faces a separate gun possession charge that will likely be dismissed if he meets certain conditions, this is according to court documents filed on Tuesday.” (RELATED: Trump Slams ‘Election Interference’ Deal Hunter Biden Struck With Feds)
Brzezinski quickly pivoted to the trial date for former President Donald Trump in his classified document scandal before bringing in MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance. The analyst first touched on the Biden charges, arguing they “appeared to be [related to] a more obscure portion of the statute that prohibit people who are addicted to or are users of drugs from using firearms.”
“Obviously Trump Republicans have been trying to stir up conspiracy theories left and right,” co-host Joe Scarborough said. “One after another has been disproven … Not only have they proven nothing, they have senior members of the Senate saying we don’t care whether he’s guilty or not … It’s all been a show. Well, that show has just been exposed by Trump’s own prosecutor … in Delaware.”
Co-host Jonathan Lemire argued that Hunter was taking “responsibility” before arguing the news was “good” for the Biden family and a “day of closure,” before the panel pivoted to Trump’s trial date. The panel then brought in NBC correspondent Ken Dilanian to talk about the Trump case first before mentioning the Biden case.
The initial foray into the news lasted less than 8 minutes.
The panel then moved on to the missing submersible before making a brief mention of the breaking news before bringing Vance back on to focus on Trump.
But that wasn’t all the important news MSNBC had to cover. Brzezinski pivoted to the “Sex and the City” sequel for the remaining five minutes of the program before it went to its final commercial break.