MSNBC tried its hand at cultural commentary on Monday with a Cinco de Mayo segment featuring a stereotypical portrayal of a stumbling Mexican by a reporter pretending to guzzle tequila straight from the bottle.
As a visual reading "Mexican Heritage Celebration" appeared on screen, Way Too Early host Thomas Roberts explained the historical background of the holiday. As he spoke, a sombrero-clad Louis Burgdorf wandered around the newsroom shaking a maraca.
"It's also an excuse to drink tequila on a Monday morning at work for Louis," Roberts said, adding "you have to drink the whole thing and eat the worm."
The team at MSNBC's Way Too Early continued to weave the theme of Cinco de Mayo into the show. Roberts introduced "The Cooler" segment standing before a table with a prominently displayed bottle of a mass market tequila. "Cooler Correspondent" Burgdorf began his segment by taking a shot of tequila, which Roberts referred to as the correspondent's "go-go juice."
"Olé!" Burgdorf said after taking the shot, apparently unaware that the word is associated with Spain rather than Mexico.
Then there was dancing, again with the maracas.
The show appeared to indicate that many people at MSNBC have absolutely no idea what's going on in Mexico or with the 33.5 million Americans of Mexican origin. At least they stopped short of giving Burgdorf a mustache.
H/T: BuzzFeed