MSNBC host uses O’Reilly Twitter insult to close her show

by Olivia Beavers - 03/08/17 3:05 PM ET

“And that does it for this UNRULY edition of Andrea @MitchellReports” [mic drop] pic.twitter.com/mS19gAdUDq

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 8, 2017

MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell mockingly called her Wednesday show an “unruly edition,” echoing an insult directed at her in a tweet by Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.

Unruly Andrea Mitchell escorted from press conf https://t.co/dqXjCZke1Y

— Bill O’Reilly (@oreillyfactor) March 8, 2017

O’Reilly called Mitchell “unruly” Wednesday after she peppered Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his guest, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, with questions about Russia. Mitchell’s questioning resulted in staffers escorting her out of the State Department briefing room for the second time this month.

{mosads}During a photo-op last week with Tillerson and International Atomic Energy Agency Director Yukiya Amano, Mitchell asked the secretary a flurry of questions about budget cuts, only to be escorted out of the room a short time later.

At the end of Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Mitchell signed off by saying, “That does it for this unruly edition of Andrea Mitchell Reports.”

O’Reilly’s criticism came on International Women’s Day.

A Fox spokesperson said the tweet was sent by staff at O’Reilly’s personal website, not from anyone at the network.

Reporters from CNN, NBC, the Boston Globe, and BuzzFeed defended Mitchell, with some noting that O’Reilly’s tweet falls on International Women’s Day.

BuzzFeed reporter Anne Helen Petersen used O’Reilly’s diss to say “Celebrate Unruly Women Day” in a tweet.

Celebrate Unruly Women Day https://t.co/MnNff2Tpq2

— Anne Helen Petersen (@annehelen) March 8, 2017

CNN’s Dylan Byers defended Mitchell for “doing her job.”

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

The Boston Globe’s Matt Viser suggested journalists need to be more like Mitchell when public officials evade reporters.

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

And NBC’s Bradd Jaffy, Mitchell’s colleague, praised her for being a “good reporter.”

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

One person’s unruly is another person’s dogged; persistent; honorable. https://t.co/J5jAuvLaE5

— Dan Barry (@DanBarryNYT) March 8, 2017

Happy International Women’s Day, from all the unruly female reporters doing their job https://t.co/ibzoizNnYP

— Olivia Becker (@oliviaLbecker) March 8, 2017