This morning MSNBC analyst Mark Halperin was a guest on Morning Joe, a show he frequently appears on. During his segment he asked if the seven-second delay was on, knowing full well that the show has a seven-second delay that was established in 2008 when host Joe Scarborough made the mistake of using the f-word on air live.  

Show hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski both told him it was ok to speak freely and expected to hear something controversial, but did not expect the gaffe they heard. 

Halperin then said of President Obama, “I thought he was kind of a dick yesterday.”  

In utter disbelief of what he had just heard, Scarborough quickly turned off camera to the show’s producers, saying,” Delay that. Delay that. What are you doing?” 

All three quickly realized that the show’s new executive producer was not at all aware of the seven-second delay button.  Oops!

Halperin scrambled quickly to apologize, “Joking aside, this is an absolute apology. I shouldn’t have said it. I apologize to the President and the viewers who heard me say that.” 

Scarborough responded with, “We’re going to have a meeting after the show.” 

Trying to save face, Scarborough also made light of the situation, saying to his producer, “I would tell you what I think of him but he doesn’t know what button to push.”  

Halperin has since been suspended indefinitely from MSNBC and has faced reprimand from Time magazine where he is Editor-At-Large.