Democratic National Committee vice chair Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.) left "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski and others confused on Friday over his spinning response to Hillary Clinton's recent blistering criticism of the DNC.
Clinton said Wednesday that the DNC's data operation was "mediocre to poor" and that she inherited "nothing" when she won the nomination. A former DNC official slammed Clinton's remarks as "fucking bullshit" in a Twitter tirade that day.
Ellison dodged multiple questions on MSNBC about whether Clinton's criticisms were accurate, at one point going on a tangent about President Trump that left Mika Brzezinski saying, "I just don't know what you said."
"Let me tell you, man. We are looking forward. We're looking ahead," he said. "The truth is, we do need to do some improving. A little bit of criticism doesn't hurt us."
Katty Kay interrupted to ask if Clinton should take responsibility for her loss as well.
Ellison responded that Clinton was a "wonderful American" and that he needed "everybody's help to go inspire voters all over this country."
"So I'm not looking back," he said. "I'm looking forward."
Brzezinski protested that Ellison was spouting "a lot of platitudes."
"It's not platitudes!" Ellison said.
"She says it was bankrupt ... She says it was a complete mess. Is that the case?" Brzezinski asked.
Ellison said "we can't re-litigate the past," to which Brzezinski responded, "man," seemingly mocking Ellison's use of the word in casual conversation.
"The truth is, Trump is abandoning climate action," Ellison said. "He is taking away people's protection from pre-existing conditions. He is trying to ban people based on a religion. There is no time for us to go back and try to figure out who shot John. We've got to figure out what went wrong so we can fix it and then move forward in an aggressive way. That's where I'm at."
Brzezinski said, "I just don't know what you said. At all."
Host Joe Scarborough wrapped the interview there, however.