MSNBC's National Affairs Correspondent Thinks Flipping off the President Is Being "INCLUSIVE"

National affairs correspondent for The Nation Joan Walsh said Thursday that a woman who flipped off President Donald Trump was being inclusive, from a certain point of view.



Appearing on MSNBC’s "The Beat," Walsh took issue with guest Carrie Sheffield’s criticism of the tactics of the so-called Trump resistance. Sheffield argued that the bicyclist Juli Briskman had the right to give Trump's passing motorcade the finger but noted that such action gives the resistance little right to criticism Trump’s rhetoric.



"The response I’ve seen from the resistance I’ve found very troubling because it's mirroring and doing the same thing [as Trump]," Sheffield said. "They say, ‘We have tolerance, inclusion.’ I don't see that happening."



"I don't see how giving someone the finger is not inclusion," Walsh replied, prompting a surprised facial expression from host Ari Melber. "She’s riding a bicycle, she sees him, she does it spontaneously, she’s on her own time—I think it's completely defensible and I think it’s crazy she got fired."



Briskman was not fired for the act but for posting about it on social media, specifically for violating the company’s "obscene content" prohibition. Walsh alleged a double standard on the company’s part because people who had posted about "libtards" were not fired.



"It's not like Elizabeth Warren gave the president the finger," Walsh later added. "A private citizen did it, riding her private bicycle. She didn't know anyone was photographing her."