On the January 11 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, contributor Willie Geist asserted: “The ladies at [ABC's] The View yesterday ... didn't appreciate his [MSNBC host Chris Matthews'] characterization of [Sen.] Hillary Clinton's [D-NY] rise to success” and proceeded to air a video clip featuring portions of the January 10 edition of The View, during which co-host Joy Behar read Matthews' recent statement about Clinton that “the reason she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around.” After a brief discussion of the clip, co-host Joe Scarborough said, “Now, let's go right now to our Washington bureau, NBC News' Washington bureau. David Shuster is there with an update and his latest Joy Behar imitation.” Shuster asserted, “Yeah, you know, Joy Behar is well known for her political analysis,” and rolled his eyes. After saying, "[H]ere's my Joy Behar impersonation -- actually this could apply for everybody on The View," Shuster said, " 'Oh, Chris Matthews. Chris Matthews gave his opinion. Ohhhhh.' I mean, come on. Give us a break." Geist then stated that Shuster's impersonation of Behar was “well done,” adding: “That's good stuff.”

From the January 11 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

SCARBOROUGH: And Willie Geist, speaking of attacks, the guy that David Shuster works with, Chris Matthews, came under attack --

MIKA BRZEZINSKI (co-host): Oh, yes he did.

SCARBOROUGH: -- from an unlikely source.

GEIST: We're gonna have Chris Matthews on this very show very shortly.

SCARBOROUGH: The paragon of journalism herself --

GEIST: Yes. To respond to an attack from who?

SCARBOROUGH: Barbara Walters.

GEIST: The ladies at The View yesterday --

BRZEZINSKI: Barbara?

GEIST: -- who didn't appreciate his characterization of Hillary Clinton's rise to success.

BRZEZINSKI: What did they say?

GEIST: Well, let's watch.

[begin video clip]

BEHAR: Chris Matthews -- you know Chris, right, from MSNBC? -- this is the statement that he made. He said the reason that Hillary Clinton is “a United States Senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is that her husband messed around.”

[...]

WALTERS: I was brought up, and I'm very careful here, as you know, I've been on with you for a long time, not to give my personal opinions. I had thought that people in news didn't do that. Forget it. The way to get ratings -- come out and slam.

[...]

BEHAR: It's almost like a pile-on of these men against her. And I think they're going to get the real backlash for it. It's, it's really an inappropriate statement, in my opinion.

[end video clip]

BRZEZINSKI: Oh my gosh.

SCARBOROUGH: I have seen Barbara Walters now say that three times this morning, and I am more stunned every time. She, I guess she has no shame. This is, after all, speaking of going for the ratings and journalistic standards -- this is a lady who brought on and encouraged Rosie O'Donnell to say that 9-11 was an inside job, that the American government was behind it, and that we were responsible -- we as Americans were responsible for the death of 3,000 human beings on 9-11.

BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.

SCARBOROUGH: And Barbara Walters is also the person that sat there and smiled while Rosie O'Donnell, the person she hired --

BRZEZINSKI: Right.

SCARBOROUGH: -- to boost ratings, Rosie O'Donnell came on and said that Christians were as dangerous as Islamic radicals.

BRZEZINSKI: Well, and she raises the issue about whether or not journalists are supposed to express opinions, as we are in this sort of changing medium. If you've noticed here on cable, you get a lot of different takes on the political process. Chris had his take on this issue -- I disagreed with him. Having said that, I completely disagree with Barbara Walters that we cannot have opinions and still be trustworthy.

SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, do you know what Thomas Jefferson called that? The free marketplace of ideas.

GEIST: And by the way, have you watched Hardball lately? Chris doesn't make any apologies for giving his opinion.

BRZEZINSKI: No.

GEIST: That's sort of the point of the show.

BRZEZINSKI: And you don't like it, you don't watch it. But people watch it because they like what he has to say, and they like disagreeing with him. I think the best part of what we do is disagreeing and sort of picking apart the issues, and trying to figure out what's really going on. How can you if you can't express any opinions at all?

SCARBOROUGH: Americans grapple with the future of this country around breakfast tables, around -- in diners. That's what we do also. Now, let's go right now to our Washington bureau, NBC News' Washington bureau. David Shuster is there with an update and his latest Joy Behar imitation. David.

[laughter]

BRZEZINSKI: Does she need some medication?

SHUSTER: Yeah, you know, Joy Behar is well known for her political analysis. [rolls eyes] No, I mean, you know, here's my Joy Behar impersonation -- actually this could apply for everybody on The View: “Oh, Chris Matthews. Chris Matthews gave his opinion. Ohhhhh.” I mean, come on. Give us a break.

BRZEZINSKI: Oh my goodness --

SCARBOROUGH: From our Washington, DC, bureau --

BRZEZINSKI: David Shuster.

SCARBOROUGH: NBC's David Shuster.

GEIST: Well done.

SCARBOROUGH: All right, Willie, I'm so glad we've got --

GEIST: He's going to be appearing at The Sands in Vegas with Rich Little doing impersonations this weekend.

[laughter]

SCARBOROUGH: He is.

GEIST: That's good stuff.

SCARBOROUGH: There's no doubt about it.