Andrea Mitchell fans have come to the longtime MSNBC reporter’s defense after Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly slammed her behavior as “unruly.”
O’Reilly’s comment came after Mitchell shouted questions at Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during a photo op with Ukranian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkinon on Tuesday. Mitchell’s attempted to ask Tillerson about Chinese threats of retaliation for the anti-missile defenses in South Korea, but was shuffled out of the room.
“Still no answers from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson,” she said on air during “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on Tuesday.
O’Reilly shared video of the moment on Twitter with the caption: “Unruly Andrea Mitchell escorted from press conf.” The description of the video on his website goes even further: “The NBC News host shouts question after question at Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, then seems proud as a peacock at her display.”
(Update: A Fox News spokesperson specified with TheWrap on Wednesday that “the tweet was sent by staff at O’Reilly’s personal website, not from anyone at the network.”)
Other reporters have since come to Mitchell’s defense, pointing out that posing questions to government officials is her job. And Tillerson has yet to answer any of the media’s questions since being confirmed last month.
“Unruly? No. She was trying to ask questions — as any good reporter should. And I’m proud to call her a friend and colleague,” wrote NBC News’ Bradd Jaffy on Twitter.
Mitchell herself joked about the comment during her sign-off on Wednesday’s edition of the show. “And that does it for this ‘unruly’ edition of ‘Andrea Mitchell Reports,’” she said.
You guys. This happened today.
This is why we ❤️ Andrea @mitchellreports. There is nobody more dogged, more tenacious. The best. pic.twitter.com/uINDWmOYEM
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 7, 2017
Unruly Andrea Mitchell escorted from press conf https://t.co/dqXjCZke1Y
— Bill O'Reilly (@BillOReilly) March 8, 2017
Unruly? No. She was trying to ask questions — as any good reporter should. And I'm proud to call her a friend and colleague. https://t.co/5GBczI8pLC
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 8, 2017
This is really great to watch @mitchellreports push for details. One of the hardest working people in television https://t.co/TaJMvaAw7h
— Mark Meredith (@markpmeredith) March 8, 2017
Tip of the Day: On International Women’s Day, don’t call veteran, pioneering female journalist “unruly” for doing her job. @mitchellreports https://t.co/weROZB6msi
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) March 8, 2017
Unruly? https://t.co/231pxyGBzw
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) March 8, 2017
1) Ya can’t call it a “press conf” if no questions are taken
2) We should all be as “unruly” as Andrea Mitchell when public officials dodge https://t.co/Bec5z0uQ9B
— Matt Viser (@mviser) March 8, 2017
"unruly" = asking questions of the secretary of state, who is yet to give an interview https://t.co/9ziOUmxroE
— David Mack (@davidmackau) March 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/annehelen/status/839533028477108224
https://twitter.com/morninggloria/status/839570350824427521
“And that does it for this UNRULY edition of Andrea @MitchellReports” [mic drop] pic.twitter.com/mS19gAdUDq
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 8, 2017