An MSNBC host took to Twitter on Tuesday to apologize after she devoted a segment of her show to mocking former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s Christmas card and his adopted black grandchild.
Melissa Harris-Perry, who hosts an eponymous weekend show on the liberal-leaning network, displayed the card on her show Sunday, which featured Kieran Romney sitting on the former GOP candidate’s lap surrounded by the rest of the Romney family. Harris-Perry said, “A lot of people had emotions about this baby picture this year,” by way of introducing the photo. Guest Pia Glenn, an actress, started singing “one of these things is not like the others,” as the host laughed.
Harris-Perry then joked she’d like to see the younger Romney and North West, the daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, get married in 2040. “Can you imagine Mitt Romney and Kanye West as in-laws?” she said.
Comedian Dean Obeidallah then added, “I think this picture is great. It really sums up the diversity of the Republican Party, the RNC. At the convention, they find the one black person.”
Politicians’ children are generally considered off-limits for the purposes of political attacks. The Obamas, like the Clintons, are fiercely protective of their daughters. On the campaign trail in 2012, some of Romney’s adult children acted as surrogates, but were not the targets of Democratic attacks. Kieran Romney was adopted after the campaign was over. Romney has retreated to private life after his 2012 election loss, spending time with his family. The photo in question was from a Christmas card he sent to friends, family, supporters, and others he interacted with on the campaign trail
Nearly 48 hours later, Harris-Perry apologized for the exchange on Twitter, saying she “meant no offense.”
See the segment below:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czMoPk9trqg]