Rachel Maddow was shocked. She was flabbergasted. She was reeling from the insanity of it all. But, she assured her Thursday viewers, the video of Rep. Thaddeus McCotter strumming a lone guitar while he mused aloud about Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's prostitution scandal was not a hoax.
Maddow said she knew viewers were going to think the video could not be real, "like low carb bread or tasty vodka." But she quelled any doubts by playing excerpts of the video, part of a series for the conservative website Human Events, where McCotter, a Michigan Republican, plays licks on a guitar while commenting on items in the news.
The video Maddow was highlighting featured a defense of Berlusconi, who is embroiled in a scandal over his relationship with an alleged underage prostitute. McCotter plays the riff from "Satisfaction," and then jokes that he has to stop because Berlusconi "evidently got his satisfaction." Then he says that, if Berlusconi is convicted, "we will miss you," and begins playing the riff from the Rolling Stones' "Miss You." Maddow was less than amused.
She noted that the video is but one in a series. "It's not always about hoping those child prositution charges don't stick!" she said, before playing another video where McCotter talks about Libya.
"I assume this means that Republican congressman Thaddeus McCotter is not running for re-election next year," she concluded.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy