MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski offered a rare bit of praise on Tuesday to Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, saying that she could find nothing to criticize about his recent interaction with a Russian journalist.
Brzezinski opened a segment during Tuesday’s broadcast of “Morning Joe” with comments about McCarthy’s trip to Israel, paying particular attention to his testy exchange with a Russian reporter during a press conference.
WATCH:
A rare bit of praise for @SpeakerMcCarthy from @morningmika. pic.twitter.com/sfD6UrUdp2
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) May 2, 2023
“I just want to jump ahead to our B block for a second — did you see Kevin McCarthy on Ukraine?” Brzezinski asked.
“Yes, very strong, a Russian reporter sort of challenged him on the American support for Ukraine,” co-host Willie Geist agreed. “And Speaker McCarthy went back hard at this Russian reporter.”
“Slow clap,” Brzezinski continued, adding, “It was really actually his best moment as speaker of the House. Nothing bad to say about that, It was a really — we’ll get to it, have a bigger conversation about the state of the war in Ukraine. But the speaker of the House really planting a flag on what needed to be said on that side.”
During the exchange Brzezinski highlighted, a Russian reporter challenged McCarthy to address the amount of aid the United States has provided to Ukraine.
“We know that you don’t support the current unlimited and uncontrolled supplies of weaponry and aid to Ukraine. So can you comment? Is it possible, if in the near future the U.S. policy regarding sending weaponry to Ukraine will change?” the reporter asked.
Prior to the 2022 midterm elections, McCarthy warned that he was not in favor of sending a “blank check” to Ukraine, but he has voted several times in favor of specific aid packages.