Sarah Palin called MSNBC hosts and guests “despicable” for mocking Mitt Romney’s adopted infant grandson, Kieran Romney, who is black.
During a segment of “Melissa Harris-Perry” on Sunday, the panelists joked about a viral photo of the Romneys sitting in an idyllic setting surrounded by their 21 grandkids including little Kieran dressed in a pink onesie.
One of the panelists, actress Pia Glenn, sang “one of these things is not like the other,” while another joked that the photo was representative of the Republican Party’s lacking diversity.
“It really sums up the diversity of the Republican Party, the RNC. At the convention, they find the one black person,” said comedian Dean Obeidallah.
MSNBC host Harris-Perry joked about Romney’s grandson marrying Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s daughter, North West.
Republicans came out swinging. CNN contributor and Republican Ana Navarro called the segment “absolutely bad taste.”
In a blistering post on her Facebook page, Palin wrote: “Leftist media hounds are not expressing an opinion with this attack; they are expressing a prejudice that would never be accepted if it came from anyone else but the lib[eral] media,” Palin wrote. “This latest attack from the Left is despicable.”
She added: “It’s a beautiful thing the Romney family has done by embracing “the spirit of adoption.” What on earth is more beautiful? Shame on MSNBC for mocking this.”
Following the GOP backlash, MSNBC panelists Obeidallah and Glenn offered apologies, defending their comments as non-racist.
In a statement to CNN, Obeidallah apologized for his joke, but he said he would continue to “cross the line” in the future. “Occasionally my jokes have been known to ‘cross the line,’ and I can assure you that in the future some of my jokes will do that again,” he said.
