On the March 19 edition of Morning Joe, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski repeatedly hectored Rick Santorum on the issue of contraception.
Brzezinski lectured the Republican on strategy, describing the ObamaCare contraception mandate debate as “Just totally off message, off base in terms of what plagues this country right now.”
Even after the former senator said that his issue with contraception
was only dealing with the HHS mandate on the Catholic Church, host Joe
Scarborough asked, “I saw a video that -- of an interview that you did
in Iowa back in the fall where you said contraception was wrong and
other presidential candidates didn't talk about it but you were going to
talk about it. Do you regret saying that?”
Clearly Scarborough and company were on message with the rest of the
network's "war on women [1]" meme and refused to let balanced journalism
get in the way of toeing the company line:
JOE SCARBOROUGH: So, Rick, we, we, I certainly agreed uh, when we were talking about the Catholic Church controversy. I think we probably are on the same side there. Uh, but – but beyond just that, I saw a video that -- of an interview that you did in Iowa back in the fall where you said contraception was wrong and other presidential candidates didn't talk about it but you were going to talk about it. Do you regret saying that? Or is that just one of those things that you said on a day that you were -- uh because I know you also have videos where you said you voted for Title 10. No, you laugh about it. But I - I can give you chapter and verse of that.
RICK SANTORUM: Yeah, I mean, This is – this is all – this is you guys – This is you guys playing sort of gotcha politics.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: No–
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Um?
RICK SANTORUM: Look, I was talking about my own personal faith. And what I was saying is that the issue of out-of-wedlock births and what's going on in the destruction of the American family is something that I will talk about. And I have talked about in this campaign. I wasn't talking about access to contraception. That wasn't the issue. Never-
Even after Santorum informed the Morning Joe crew that his presidential
campaign speeches focus mostly on the economy and jobs, both Brzezinski and
Scarborough continued to press the issue, helpfully throwing in commentary of
their own to sway their at-home audience.
Prior to the interview on today's program, Scarborough also
said that Santorum was “wrong on all counts” on the issue of troops
in Afghanistan.
The transcript of their discussion on contraception can be found below:
MIKA
BRZEZINSKI: All right. Well, let's go there. I want to ask you about
Illinois. But first, um, since you talk about connecting with average
ordinary Americans, some analysts, including maybe some on this set,
might have said that you got a tad bit side tracked on the issue of
contraception, um in a way that doesn't connect with not only members of
your party, but across the board. Just totally off message, off base in
terms of what plagues this country right now. Were members of your team
telling you to back off?
RICK SANTORUM: Well, as you know, uh, Mika, the issue is not
contraception. The issue the was the government mandated health
insurance.
MIKA BRZESNSKI: Right.
RICK SANTORUM: And that
to me is completely on message, that the Federal Government should not
be mandating – first off shouldn't be mandating any health insurance.
And specifically going after churches and saying that they have to do
things that are against the tenets and teachings of their faith. You
know, the left is very, very keen on talking about separation of church
and state. Uh, and when they mean the churches can't participate and
people of faith can't participate in the public square. But, you know,
where is the separation of church and state when the government wants to
force churches and people of faith to do things that are against their
faith? I mean this is – This is in direct violation of the First
Amendment. It is a very important issue in this country. It's important
to people -- should be important to people of faith and no faith. This
is a-- a basic foundational right that is established in this country
and has been in place for 235 years. And this President is rolling over
people's rights, and that is a big issue in this country.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: So, Rick, we, we, I certainly agreed uh, when we
were talking about the Catholic Church controversy. I think we probably
are on the same side there. Uh, but – but beyond just that, I saw a
video that -- of an interview that you did in Iowa back in the fall
where you said contraception was wrong and other Presidential candidates
didn't talk about it but you were going to talk about it. Do you regret
saying that? Or is that just one of those things that you said on a day
that you were -- uh because I know you also have videos where you said
you voted for Title 10. No, you laugh about it. But I - I can give you
chapter and verse of that.
RICK SANTORUM: Yeah, I mean, This is – this is all this is you guys – This is you guys playing sort of gotcha politics.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: No–
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Um?
RICK
SANTORUM: Look, I was talking about my own personal faith. And what I
was saying is that the issue of out of wedlock births and what's going
on in the destruction of the American family is something that I will
talk about. And I have talked about in this campaign. I wasn't talking
about access to contraception. That wasn't the issue. Never --
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Ok–
RICK SANTORUM: I have never had any
record or anything about talking about access to contraception. I'm
talking about the importance and the integrity of the family as an
economic unit in this country. As I have said many times, when you see
children beings born out of wedlock and you see the breakdown of the
traditional family, guess what else you see? Poverty rates go up and
government involvement in people's lives go up.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: And Rick, just so you know, we have been critical
-- I have been critical of the focus on this issue of contraception. I
brought it up to you today because we've talked about it a lot, and
certainly now that we have you here, we want to you respond to it. Let's
move beyond the issue of contraception.
RICK SANTORUM: Yeah, I mean, look. Joe-Joe-Joe and Mika, hold on one
second. Go to any, come to any of my almost now 1,000 town hall
meetings, and let me assure you, I don't think the word "contraception"
has ever come up except in the context of this HHS reg. I mean, let's deal with reality instead of what media tries to do
which isto pigeon hole you and tell a narrative. Uh, the bottom line is
yes, I talk about the family but I talk about it in the context of the
economy. I talk about it in the context of a strong and – a strong
foundation for our country. And that is an important issue. And I will
talk about it. But as you know, the principle issue that I talk about on
the campaign is that we are losing our freedom. We have a government
that is getting bigger and bigger. We have a group of elites who think
we can run our lives better than we can run it ourselves. And
unfortunately, we have another candidate in the Republican party who
believes the same things as Barack Obama when it comes to the big issues
of the day, of government control of your life. And in specific the
biggest reach--overreach of government, and that is in the area of
health care. And on that score, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are the
same. And that's what we can't have in this election.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well, I have certainly talked about your focus on
this in the past. Do you think I–You have known me for a long time. Do
you think I'm trying to pigeon hole you and stereotype you?
(CROSSTALK)
RICK SANTORUM: the fact that you continue to bring
it up, yeah, sure. I don't talk about this, Joe. This is not the theme
of my campaign--
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well, Why would I? I think my
record on this and in Congress is the same as yours. All I'm saying is,
it is a legitimate issue. We brought it up. And I was ready to move on.
And then you wanted to keep talking about it and said that I was trying
to pigeon hole you and stereotype you. I have known you for a long time.
I have no reason for doing that.
RICK SANTORUM: Whoa, whoa. Well, Joe, the only reason I would talk
about this issue as I said is with respect to government mandates of
people of faith. That's why this issue continued to be talked about and
should continue to be talked about in the context of government forcing
people of faith to do things that are against their religious beliefs.
Something the federal government has never done and should never do when
it comes to whether it's the Catholic Church or any other legitimate
religion.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Mika?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: I also would um-- I
would support any concern about the decline of the American family. I
just wonder how this -- how your team actually felt about how this
conversation was going, given the message of the campaign and what it
should be.
--Josh St. Louis is an MRC intern.