MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace calls Fox News' Laura Ingraham, others 'chickens**t' during live broadcast — and the left loves it

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace called Fox News' Laura Ingraham — and apparently her guests John Yoo and Alan Dershowitz — "chickens**t" during a live broadcast Tuesday over what Wallace called a "smear campaign" by "cable news" against Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.

 

What's the background?

Vindman, the National Security Council's top Ukraine expert, listened to a July phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukraine's president — and Vindman testified during a closed-door deposition Tuesday for Democrats' impeachment inquiry against Trump that he "was concerned" about what he heard on the call.

Wallace ran a series of clips showing members of the media criticizing Vindman, ending with Ingraham on Monday telling Yoo and Dershowitz that "here we have a U.S. National security official who is advising Ukraine while working inside the White House apparently against the president's interests, and usually they spoke in English. Isn't that kind of an interesting angle on this story?"

Yoo replied, "I find that astounding, and, you know, some people might call that espionage."

'Except those people aren't chickens**t like the three of you'

After the series of clips, Wallace remarked on air, “Except those people aren't chickens**t like the three of you, and they know that he passed a background check that the president's daughter and son-in-law didn't."

Wallace's guest, Nick Burns — a former U.S. ambassador to NATO — asked her, "Did you say what I think you said?"

"I don't know," Wallace replied with a giggle before adding that Burns "would never say" such a profanity and that he was there "to save us, to elevate us."

Here's the clip. (Content warning: Language):

The left loved Wallace's profanity

A cursory glance at Twitter reactions to Wallace's "chickens**t" utterance shows more than a few on the left loved that she dropped that bomb on-air:

• Scott Dworkin, co-founder of the Democratic Coalition, called Wallace's profanity "awesome."
• Rosie O'Donnell thanked Wallace "for all you do" and said the MSNBC host was "speaking truth to insanity — bravo brave u ... you are amazing and so needed."
• A gushing Alyssa Milano prompted her followers to "watch this video all the way to the end."
• Crooks and Liars tweeted that "we love foul-mouthed Nicolle."

Others added the following:

• "Nicolle Wallace is my new ALL fav!"
• "Nicolle is a #BadASS."
• "Haha...love this!"
• "MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace deploys glorious vulgarity to blast rival network."

Anything else?

Yoo on Tuesday clarified what he said on Ingraham's program, telling the Washington Examiner:

"I want to clear up a misconception of my remarks on the Laura Ingraham show last night. I did not accuse Lt. Col. Vindman of committing the crime of espionage. I have tremendous respect for a decorated officer of the U.S. Army and a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. What I was addressing was a report that Ukrainian officials had sought to contact Vindman for advice on how to handle Rudy Giuliani acting as a presidential envoy."

"I meant to say that this sounded like an espionage operation by the Ukrainians," he added. "I think it deliberately misconstrues my words to say that the separate issue of the phone call between the U.S. and Ukrainian president through the chain of command constitutes espionage by Vindman, or that Vindman is some kind of double agent."