Ed Schultz and fellow MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan had a very angry exchange on Thursday afternoon.
The two were part of an MSNBC panel analyzing President Obama's Thursday morning press conference. Host Thomas Roberts asked Schultz what he thought of the conference. Schultz was positively giddy, calling it a "home run" for Obama and praising his American Jobs Act. "It's about jobs, it's about jobs right now," he said.
Ratigan was much more downbeat. "Ed, can I ask you a couple of questions?" he said. While Schultz listened, Ratigan said that he didn't think the jobs bill went nearly far enough to solve the unemployment crisis in America. He lamented that Washington could not seem to come up with a bigger solution.
"Don't I and the rest of America have a right to be frustrated with this entire apparatus?" he asked Schultz.
"You're not gonna do this overnight," Schultz said, adding that Obama had been honest about this and that Ratigan seemed to want to wave a "magic wand." Ratigan tried to cut in, causing Schultz to angrily push back.
"I didn't interrupt you!" he said. "I just want to address--" Ratigan started to say. "I don't care what you want to address!" Schultz shouted back. "I didn't interrupt you!"
"I didn't mean to upset you," Ratigan said. "I apologize." Roberts tried to calm everyone down, and Schultz continued, saying that the jobs bill would create "several million" jobs. "1.2 million," Ratigan cut in. This led to more crosstalk, until Schultz had had enough.
"I gotta go back and do my radio show," he said. "I'm not going to be interrupted by Dylan." With that, he left the discussion.
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UPDATE: Ed Schultz appeared on Dylan Ratigan's show Thursday afternoon, and the two buried the hatchet. Ratigan apologized for creating a "distraction" from the jobs issues he and Schultz were supposed to be addressing, and a much more collegial conversation followed.
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