When a Republican is president, it’s okay to give him the middle finger. Julie Briskman of Sterling, Virginia decided to do that while the president’s motorcade passed her while on a bike ride, which she said, “it felt great.” It went viral, and it eventually cost Briskman her job. NBC’s Megyn Kelley interviewed Briskman, who, in the eyes of Newsbusters, was treated as a hero. If you watch the clip and read the transcript, it’s rather true. Kyle Drennan has more (via NewsBusters) [emphasis mine]:

Kelly began the softball exchange by asking Briskman: “And there goes President Trump’s motorcade. And what inspired you in the moment to communicate with him in that manner?” Briskman seized the chance to rant against the President: “Well, all my frustration about this administration just welled up inside of me, and I started thinking about all the things that I think are going wrong right now in our country. And that was the only way I had to give him the message that I wanted to give him.” The audience laughed in response.

Moments later, Kelly wondered: “And how did it feel?” Briskman happily replied: “It felt great.” Amid more cheers from the audience, she added: “Actually, I don’t think anyone’s asked me that question before, but it actually felt great. It was like I got to tell him – hopefully got to tell him how I really feel.” Kelly remarked: “I’m sure he’s heard about it now.”

[…]

The host then fretted: “However, you got fired, were forced to resign because of it. Why?” Briskman, who Kelly introduced as the former “head of social media for Akima LLC,” explained: “They cited the social media policy of the company, saying that my action was obscene and basically my content on my social media was obscene.” She admitted how eager she was to promote the picture: “I posted it on my Facebook cover photo and I posted it on my Twitter profile picture and my cover photo on Twitter.”

Kelly prompted applause from the audience when she chimed in: “She was proud of it, ‘That was me.’”

Lamenting Briskman’s firing, Kelly portrayed it as un-American: “...legally they may have had the right to fire you, assuming they treat all their employees the same. But do you think it is the right thing, the right thing in America?”

Predictably, Briskman declared: “Right, legal and right aren’t always the same thing, are they?... No, I don’t think it was right.”

Asked if she had any “regret” over her actions, Briskman announced: “I don’t regret doing it, no. No, I think we have a big problem in this country.” The audience cheered for her once more.

[…]

When a rodeo clown at the Missouri State Fair donned an Obama mask in 2013, NBC and the other broadcast networks lost their minds. The Today show labeled it “Rodeo Racism” and prominently featured a soundbite of one spectator comparing the event to a “Klan rally.”

In 2014, NBC, ABC, and CBS similarly freaked out when GOP staffer Elizabeth Lauten criticized the behavior of Sasha and Malia Obama at a White House event on her private Facebook page. “Of course, criticizing Presidents’ children has long been considered taboo in American politics and as we’re seeing here in the age of the internet and social media, the backlash can be brutal....with some accusing her of ‘Cyber Bullying.’ The #FireElizabethLauten trending online,” correspondent Kristen Welker hyped on Today.

Both the rodeo worker and Lauten lost their jobs as result of the respective controversies. NBC never brought either of them on air to defend their anti-Obama actions, let alone applaud them.