Discussing the corruption trial of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday, political analyst Steve Kornacki predicted that it would be “unlikely” for Governor Chris Christie to be able to name a Republican to replace the disgraced Democrat, even after a criminal conviction. Why? Because the Senator would simply “hang on” to the seat until a Democrat becomes the state’s new governor in January.

“Chris Christie’s term is up...he will be out of the office by the second week of January. So if you were to get a conviction of Menendez in the near-term future, the challenge for Menendez...is could he hang on for a couple months until a Democrat becomes governor of New Jersey?,” Kornacki wondered. He assured the show’s liberal panelists: “I’m almost sure he would do this and I’m almost sure Democrats in the Senate would have his back in doing this.”

Rather express outrage at a politician potentially clinging to power despite a bribery conviction, Kornacki instead eagerly cited “precedent” set by another corrupt New Jersey Democrat decades earlier:

To the extent there’s a precedent on this, and you can always find a precedent for anything, the last senator who was convicted of bribery was 36 years ago, in New Jersey, in the same Senate seat, Harrison Williams, he was convicted in April of ‘81. He actually resigned his seat in the spring of ‘82, he managed to hold on for a year. So if that’s a precedent at all, I think Democrats can get Menendez to hang on for a few months after a conviction.

A key factor in Menendez being able to “hang on” to his seat for “months” would be how much political pressure is brought to bear on him and the Democratic Party. That will only happen if the public at large is made aware of his corruption. Sadly, the liberal media have refused to touch the story. NBC and ABC have completely ignored the trial so far and CBS has only managed mere seconds of coverage.

Kornacki’s skewed analysis was brought to viewers by GE, USAA, and Raymond James.

Here is a transcript of the September 8 segment: