Cable news network MSNBC suspended political analyst Mark Halperin on Thursday, hours after he called President Obama a vulgar name on the network's "Morning Joe" show.

Hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski discussed with Mr. Halperin President Obama's demeanor at a Wednesday press conference during which he compared Congress to lazy schoolchildren. Before characterizing the president's behavior, Mr. Halperin joked with the show's hosts about whether his comments were on a seven-second delay that would give producers time to bleep out foul language. He went on to say: "I thought he was a kind of a d— yesterday."

However, Mr. Halperin's response was not bleeped. Mr. Halperin, a paid contributor and Time magazine editor-at-large who co-authored the best-selling book "Game Change" about the 2008 campaign, subsequently issued an on-air apology. He said he agreed with MSNBC's decision to indefinitely suspend him. "I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the president, to my MSNBC colleagues and to the viewers," Mr. Halperin said in a statement.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney complained to MSNBC, a unit of Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal, though he says he did not request Mr. Halperin's suspension. "It would be inappropriate to say that about any president of either party," said Mr. Carney, who once worked with Mr. Halperin at Time Warner Inc.'s Time magazine.

Time said in a statement: "Mark Halperin's comments on air this morning were inappropriate and in no way reflective of Time's views. We have issued a warning to him that such behavior is unacceptable."