MSNBC's Shuster returns from suspension
MSNBC reporter David Shuster's suspension is up, and he says he has "no bitterness, no regrets."
Shuster was suspended for comments he made earlier this month about Chelsea Clinton's role in her mother's campaign: "Doesn't it seem like Chelsea is being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" he asked.
The Clinton campaign repeatedly hammered MSNBC over Shuster's comments, something some observers -- like Talking Points Memo's Greg Sargent -- attributed more to the actions of MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews than to Shuster. In an interview with TVNewser, Shuster seems to say that his suspension was at least in part because of things other than his comments. "Does it bother me that I was thrown under the bus to pay for the sins of the father? No," Shuster says. "As somebody who's covered politics for a while, I understand all the forces that were in play... I'm aware of the long list of complaints the Clinton campaign had about people from MSNBC... Tensions were clearly building. I was at the wrong place at the right time, or the right place at the wrong time. I don't know which."
In the interview, Shuster also provides another apology of sorts for his comment. "I have the responsibility to make my point precisely and aggressively, without using coarse language," Shuster says. "Clearly, it was inappropriate for a lot of viewers. I made a horrible mistake by allowing people to be distracted by some words rather than focus on the story."
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