



MSNBC’s Morning Joe claimed its interview with former congressman Aaron Schock was “exclusive,” but Fox News had the same interview first the night before.

Schock resigned his House seat in 2015 after scrutiny of his travel and spending patterns, including a redesign of his Capitol Hill office that was reportedly inspired by a drawing room on “Downton Abbey.” He had been indicted in November 2016 on 24 charges, which will reportedly be dropped if he pays back taxes and reimburses campaign funds.

As A.J. Katz from TV Newser reports, “This interview with Schock may have been pitched as an exclusive for a little while, and with that in mind, Morning Joe showed “Exclusive” in the lower third of the screen during Schock’s Thursday morning in-studio appearance … One problem with the whole “exclusive” thing: Schock appeared on Fox News @ Night with Shannon Bream the night before to talk about the charges against him having been dropped as well.

“They beat Morning Joe to the punch and referred to their interview with Schock as ‘exclusive.’ Yes, Bream’s show originates from Washington and Schock wasn’t in-studio (he was in New York, presumably for Morning Joe), but technically it was Schock’s first live interview since the deal with federal prosecutors had been struck. Morning Joe could have labeled the interview ‘In-Studio Exclusive,’ or ‘Morning Exclusive’ or something along those lines, but didn’t.”