Scarborough Slams Holt for "Phony Moral Relativism" in Biden Interview

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough criticized NBC anchor Lester Holt for his "phony moral relativism" when asking President Biden about his political rhetoric. Scarborough argued that Holt's question lacked context about the history of political violence from Republicans.

"Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough launched a blistering critique of his NBC News colleague Lester Holt on Tuesday, accusing Holt of "phony moral relativism" during an interview with President Biden.

Scarborough took aim at Holt's line of questioning about Biden's anti-Trump rhetoric, which he said lacked context about prior instances of concerning rhetoric levied against other politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Scarborough Slams Holt for "Phony Moral Relativism" in Biden Interview

"I think anyone would have asked that question," Scarborough said. "But to ask that question without any context about the politically violent rhetoric that Republicans have been engaged in for close to a decade now, that's phony moral relativism."

Scarborough was particularly incensed by Holt's failure to mention the recent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. "Did Holt mention anything about the assassination attempt on President Trump?" Scarborough asked. "No, he did not."

Scarborough Slams Holt for "Phony Moral Relativism" in Biden Interview

He continued: "Holt's question was a classic example of the phony moral relativism that is so prevalent in the media today. They hold one party to a different standard than the other, and they ignore the context of the situation."

Scarborough's comments come as MSNBC has faced criticism for its coverage of the assassination attempt against Trump. Some critics have accused MSNBC of downplaying the attack or even celebrating it.

Scarborough Slams Holt for "Phony Moral Relativism" in Biden Interview

Scarborough himself has been critical of MSNBC's coverage, saying on Tuesday that "we were told, in no uncertain terms, on Sunday evening, that there was going to be one news feed across all NBC News channels yesterday."

"That was going to be one news feed across all NBC News channels. That we were going to stay as a network in breaking news mode throughout all day yesterday. That did not happen," Scarborough said. "We don't know why that didn't happen. Our team was not given a good answer as to why that didn't happen, but it didn't happen."

Fox News contributor Joe Concha echoed Scarborough's criticism, saying that "the left-wing media almost uniformly downplayed the assassination attempt on Trump."

"The media has a responsibility to report on the news without bias or favor," Concha said. "But in the case of the assassination attempt on Trump, the media failed to live up to that responsibility."

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has also criticized MSNBC's coverage of the assassination attempt, saying that "the network's coverage was not in the public interest."

The NAB said that "MSNBC's coverage of the assassination attempt on President Trump was inaccurate and misleading."

"The network failed to provide a balanced and objective account of the event, and its coverage was clearly biased in favor of the attacker," the NAB said.

MSNBC has not yet responded to the criticism.