Kate Zernike didn’t get much of a chance to speak Monday on “Morning Joe.” When she did, the New York Times scribe tried her best to correct the host’s repeated misunderstanding of her recent report on the George Washington Bridge scandal.
Zernike reported Friday on a letter from Wildstein’s attorney claiming “evidence exists” that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) knew about lane closures on the bridge while they were happening. Such an assertion contradicts what Christie has claimed previously, including during his marathon press conference last month.
But Joe Scarborough echoed Christie’s own defensive response, suggesting that Zernike’s report wasn’t much of a bombshell. When Scarborough argued that Christie’s team has acknowledged all along that the governor was aware of the lane closures at the time, Zernike did her best to correct the host.
“At one point, he said I didn’t know until…the executive director of the Port Authority’s memo was leaked, which was October 1st. OK, so the lane closings end Sept. 12,” Zernike said.
“Then he said, in the two-hour press conference, he said I didn’t know about these lane closings until they were over on Sept. 13. What Wildstein is saying is he knew about them while they were happening,” she added.
Scarborough stopped her there.
“Hold on a second,” Scarborough said. “I understand what you’re saying there. But I also know that Chris Christie’s also said that he was told during the time that there was a traffic study going on.”
Zernike was then forced to explain again that, yes, Christie had claimed to be ignorant of the lane closures until they ended, but Scarborough was unimpressed.
“Does anybody assume, Kate, that Chris Christie did not know? I’m sorry, am I missing something here,” Scarborough said.
What he was missing, apparently, was the transcript from Christie’s press conference.
This post has been updated.
