Morning Joe defends Teen Vogue editor over tweets, suggests it’s good Twitter didn’t exist when he was young

McCammond stepped down saying some of her past tweets ‘have overshadowed the work I’ve done’

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinksi attend the 2018 Matrix Awards on 23 April 2018 in New York City (Rob Kim/Getty Images)

A panel on Morning Joe has extended its support to Alexi McCammond after she stepped down as Teen Vogue’s new editor-in-chief.

McCammond announced her resignation last week, saying some of her past tweets – which prompted criticism from staffers – “have overshadowed the work I’ve done to highlight the people and issues that I care about”.

Earlier this month, McCammond said in a statement: “I’ve apologised for my past racist and homophobic tweets and will reiterate that there’s no excuse for perpetuating those stereotypes in any way. I am so sorry to have used such hurtful and inexcusable language. At any point in my life, it’s totally unacceptable.”

On Monday, Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski hosted a panel on McCammond’s resignation.

Brzezinski opened by stating: “We’re not talking about cancel culture as an excuse for Republicans to cry victimhood. We’re not talking about decisions by a private estate not to publish a few books [a reference to Dr Seuss]. We’re not talking about corporations changing the wording on a product’s packaging [a reference to Unilever].”

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She then referenced a piece byThe Atlantic on the topic, titled “America Has Forgotten How to Forgive”.

Scarborough, who is married to Brzezinski, commented: “Mika and I say all the time: if Twitter had been around when we were teenagers, well, you wouldn’t know who we were.”

The pair then turned to a panel including professor Eddie S Glaude Jr, who said he’s “really mindful that we’re in this moment of transition where we’re trying to figure out how to be together differently”.

“Part of the work we have to do in my view is ...not to simply say that cancel culture is the result of the left,” he added. “...Part of what we have to do is to figure out what [James Baldwin] said: how do we imagine ourselves without the need for enemies?”