MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” praised Chris Christie for standing up for Nikki Haley and against sexist remarks being hurled across the debate stage on Wednesday night.
During the fourth Republican primary debate hosted by NewsNation, the former New Jersey Governor defended the sole woman on the stage, saying Vivek Ramaswamy “insulted Nikki Haley’s basic intelligence. Not her positions, her basic intelligence.”
“If you want to disagree on issues, that’s fine. And Nikki and I disagree on some issues … What we don’t disagree on is this is a smart, accomplished woman and you should stop insulting her,” Christie continued.
On Thursday, as “Morning Joe” was discussing the impact of the debate, they appreciated Christie’s effort to defend his competition from sexist commentary.
“I was actually kind of moved by Chris Christie and I’ve been the biggest Chris Christie critic,” said Molly Jong-Fast. “But I was actually kind of moved by him stopping the tape and being lovely.”
“Mika, didn’t you relate to that?” Jong-Fast questioned.
“I did and I’ll tell you why,” replied co-host Mika Brzezinski. “Women can point out sexism … But when men do it as well, it’s even better.”
Brzezinski added that she appreciated Christie’s “generous” sentiment in that moment onstage. “He didn’t have to do it, he could have left her standing alone to all of this but he pointed it out and put a full stop to it.”
“Yes, she can do it for herself. She’s already proven that,” continued Brzezinski. “She’s taken down that Ramaswamy guy many times to massive applause in these debates.”
“We have to have a voice but we also have to have an open mind to men who step up for us, because that’s part of it,” the co-host said.
“It meant a lot to me when he did that,” Brzezinski said.
