MSNBC "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski said Friday that she has attempted to put disgraced journalist Mark Halperin in touch with the women who accused him of sexual misconduct. Brzezinski was actually surprised that they didn’t want to talk with him, saying “there are some hypocrisies here,” and that it’s important that we allow men to validate the truth if we “want to grow as a society.”
"We also have some men who are willing to face the music, who are willing to face the facts, who are willing to admit to their actions 10, 20 years ago, even five years ago," Brzezinski said.
“Mark Halperin is more than willing to meet with his accusers and apologize with them face-to-face,” she continued. “I’ve actually tried to offer him to them. They don’t want to talk to him. They don’t want to talk to him. There are some hypocrisies here.”
“When things happen and men actually want to validate that truth, that’s important that we actually allow that, if we want to grow as a society and learn from each other,” she emphasized. “If we just want to strike people down for political motivation or for anger, we’re not going to get anywhere.”
Brzezinski acknowledged that what she said may seem “explosive.”
Her co-host and fiancé Joe Scarborough interjected that it sounded “truthful.”
These cases, she said, “involve men who have sought counseling and who want to apologize, who may not ever come back to their careers in full form But the question is, should they be allowed to apologize?”
She concluded her reflection on forcing victims to talk to their harassers by saying, “what happened with Al Franken doesn’t feel right. It feels political.”
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is resigning from the Senate after numerous sexual misconduct allegations, including the release of a picture that appears to show him groping a woman’s chest while she is sleeping.
Halperin was suspended from MSNBC in October after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment during his time at ABC News. He admitted to “inappropriate behavior” in his apology.