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Jon Stewart devoted his first Daily Show segment Thurday night to Mark Halperin’s gaffe earlier that day on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, during which the network’s political analyst and Time magazine editor-at-large called President Barack Obama a “d—k” on live TV.
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“Mark Halpersin, senior political analyst, editor-at-large of Time magazine, just called the president a d—k,” Stewart said. “And that wasn’t like a spontaneous, ‘I can’t contain myself!’ This was, ‘Do you guys have a delay because I’m going to call this guy a d—k.”
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After the incident, Halperin immediately issued an apology on-air.
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“Now people can argue whether that’s appropriate, whether Halperin crossed some sort of line, whether or not journalism has lost its professionalism — personally I could give a f—; that horse left the barn years and years ago,” Stewart quipped.
“What’s interesting to me about what he did is not what he did, it’s what happened after they came back from commercial,” during Halperin’s apology. “Now you knew he was going to apologize but you didn’t know his apology was going to be chaperones by show regular Willie Geist and his disapproving glare.”
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Stewart then proceeded to show Geist’s reaction over and over and over – and quipped that he should make an appearance at all public apologies from high-profile personalities, superimposing his image over clips of Anthony Weiner, Tiger Woods and Bill Clinton, among others.
Halperin will keep his job at Time.
“Mark Halperin’s comments on air this morning were inappropriate and in no way reflective of Time’s views. We have issued a warning to him that such behavior is unacceptable. Mark has appropriately apologized on air, via Twitter and on The Page,” a rep for the magazine told The Hollywood Reporter.
Halperin was suspended indefinitely as the network’s senior political analyst Thursday after making his statement.
Halperin released yet another apology through Time Inc.
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“I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the president and the viewers of Morning Joe. My remark was not funny. I deeply regret it,” he said.
Halperin made the crude slur against Obama while discussing his Wednesday press conference about the economy.
“Delay that. Delay that. What are you doing? I can’t believe… don’t do that. Did we delay that?” host Joe Scarborough said right after.
Scarborough said the show wasn’t able to bleep the comment because the new executive producer, Alex Korson (who replaced Chris Licht), didn’t know how the tape delay works.
“You are supposed to know how to do the job,” Scarborough said. “I would tell you what I think of him, but he doesn’t know what button to push.”
Watch the video below.
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