MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry offered a teary-eyed apology Saturday for a segment about Mitt Romney’s black grandson, Kieran.
Harris-Perry began her show by addressing last weekend’s segment, during which a pair of panelists cracked jokes about the child’s race after a photo of the Romney clan was shown on screen. The host actually called Kieran Romney “gorgeous” during the segment and she said Saturday that she “intended to say positive and celebratory things” about the photo.
“But whatever the intent was, the reality is that the segment proceeded in a way that was offensive and showing the photo in that context of the segment was poor judgment,” Harris-Perry said. “So, without reservation or qualification, I apologize to the Romney family.”
Harris-Perry then fought back tears as she offered an apology to “other families who have formed through trans-racial adoption.”
“On this program, we are dedicated to advocating for a wide diversity of families,” she said. “It is one of our core principles and I am reminded that when we are doing so it must always be with the utmost respect.”
Harris-Perry apologized earlier in the week on Twitter and said that as a “black child born into large white Mormon family,” she identified with the Romneys. Mitt Romney is expected to weigh-in on the controversy when he appears on Fox News Channel on Sunday morning.
