Vanity Fair special correspondent Molly Jong-Fast joined Wednesday’s edition of Morning Joe on MSNBC and offered up a rather confusing definition for the word “differently.” Echoing her latest article on the same subject, Jong-Fast told the table that the media needs to cover Donald Trump differently this time, which means the media should focus more on “democracy, democratic values, norms, and institutions, the structures that keep America, America,” which is not different at all.

Jong-Fast began by noting she has been trying to figure out how her election predictions ended up being so wrong, “I’m on my self-reflection tour.”

 

 

Co-host Mika Brzezinski then interrupted to kick-start an unsolicited self-affirmation therapy session, “Yes, and I like that better. I just need to give you your Know Your Value advice right now. I don't want to hear ‘I'm sorry’ on your podcast, on your social, or on this show. No, you have great insights and you have a great knowledge and there are things you—we are all are learning.”

Eventually, Jong-Fast got the segment back on track and declared, “So, I just wanted to sort of—we are in it for four years, right? This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. We need to protect norms and institutions and not focus on the aesthetic problems with Trumpism. So, the first time there was a lot of, like, he uses vulgar language, offended by things and more to focus on the norms and institutions.”

She continued, “The war on woke is vague, right? The war on woke is vague. You saw reporting that had these people, Trump voters saying that Trump defeated woke, right? So, that's vague. But the structural things that Trump might do to try to fight woke could end up undermining democracy. So, I feel like more focused on democracy, democratic values, norms, and institutions, the structures that keep America, America and less focused on the aesthetic problems of Trumpism.”

The media has spent the last several years claiming Trump represents a threat to norms, democracy, and institutions, the voters just didn’t buy it. Brzezinski and fellow co-host and husband Joe Scarborough even claimed to meet with Trump personally to discuss “threats of political retribution against political opponents and media outlets.”

Even with Trump’s cabinet selections, there’s been lots of discourse about such things. Perhaps Jong-Fast should stay on that self-reflection tour a little longer.

Here is a transcript for the November 20 show:

MSNBC Morning Joe

11/20/2024

9:16 AM ET

MOLLY JONG-FAST: I’m on my self-reflection tour.

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Yes, and I like that better. I just need to give you your Know Your Value advice right now. I don't want to hear "I'm sorry" on your podcast, on your social, or on this show. No, you have great insights and you have a great knowledge and there are things you—we all are learning.

JONG-FAST: Yeah.

BRZEZINSKI: Okay. So, continue.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: By the way, that's how she starts all of her Know Your Value conferences. So, it’s not about you. 

[Crosstalk]

She’s always saying don't say I'm sorry for doing, you know, what you're trying to do.

BRZEZINSKI: It’s just a bad way to start. You can be wrong.

SCARBOROUGH: Right.

JONG-FAST: I have to say it –

BRZEZINSKI: We're not here perfect.

JONGI-FAST: Mika, you've been — the things you suggested to me have actually always been right.

BRZEZINSKI: Always been right. So, I'll take it. I'll take it.

SCARBOROUGH: Just let her say that and not you, sweetie. Go ahead.

JONG-FAST: So, I just wanted to sort of — we are in it for four years, right? This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. We need to protect norms and institutions and not focus on the aesthetic problems with Trumpism. So, the first time there was a lot of, like, he uses vulgar language, offended by things and more to focus on the norms and institutions. 

So, is this damage, like, the war on woke is vague, right? The war on woke is vague. You saw reporting that had these people, Trump voters saying that Trump defeated woke, right? So, that's vague. But the structural things that Trump might do to try to fight woke could end up undermining democracy. So, I feel like more focused on democracy, democratic values, norms, and institutions, the structures that keep America, America and less focused on the aesthetic problems of Trumpism.