Liberal columnist E.J. Dionne on Monday said he doesn't think that somebody can get away with doing "terrible thing[s]" and then trying to play the victim.
Dionne, who writes for the Washington Post, responded to a clip of American Conservative Union president Matt Schlapp defending White House aide Kelly Sadler Monday morning on CNN as "a little bit of a victim" of a White House leak last week. Sadler has been pilloried by the media after it was leaked she mocked the deteriorating health of Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, during a staff meeting.
Dionne castigated Republicans during an appearance on MSNBC for calling "victim" after routinely "attacking the left" for victimology over the years.
"I guess I'm going to try that someday that I make a terrible mistake, do a terrible thing, and then I'm going to declare myself a victim? I don't think that works at all," Dionne said.
Host Chris Jansing agreed with Dionne, adding that "maybe you're a victim of your own brain in that case."
"Or a lack of conscious or sensitivity or basic humanity," Jansing added.
In contrast to Dionne and Jansing's purported view on victimology, MSNBC host Joy Reid did not face similar criticism from the network after she played the victim late last month by attributing homophobic posts on her old blog to hacking. While media critics have said Reid's claims of being hacked are "implausible," "bizarre," and similar to those from disgraced former New York congressman Anthony Weiner, she has maintained the posts are "completely alien" to her.
Reid said she had been working with "cyber-security expert" Jonathan Nichols to prove that her blog was hacked. While he said there was evidence of "fraudulent posts," the Daily Beast, which employs Reid as a columnist, reported Nichols' claims did not pass muster.
Reid hosted her show as recently as Saturday and filled in for multiple hosts last week during the primetime hour.