Political commentator David Frum joined MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday to discuss the heavy drinking allegations against Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. Frum began the story with a joke about Fox News, which then prompted MSNBC to apologize. In a written response in the Atlantic, Frum warned of Trump’s return to the White House that such an act would be “a very threatening thing.”

NBC released a report Tuesday showing that Hegseth’s former colleagues at Fox News were deeply concerned about his drinking habits. Two people interviewed said they smelled alcohol on Hegseth before he went on the air, with one person noting they didn’t notice the smell until November.

The report was a follow-up to a New Yorker article published Sunday that revealed there were similar concerns about Hegseth when he was head of Concerned Veterans for America from 2013 to 2016.

As Frum began the segment on Wednesday, he joked, “If you’re too drunk for Fox News, you’re very, very drunk indeed.” During the ensuing commercial break, he wrote in the Atlantic, a producer “acknowledged my comments Fox rejected it and warned me not to repeat it”. The subject was not brought up again and Frum left the set.

“Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski then read an apology for Frum’s comments. Brzezinski and her husband, co-host Joe Scarborough, came under fire in November after the couple’s visit to Trump at Mar-a-Lago was made public.

“A little earlier in this block there was commentary on Fox News, in our coverage of Pete Hegseth and the growing number of allegations about his behavior over the years and possible alcohol addiction or drinking problems,” Brzezinski said on “Good Morning, Joe.”

“The comment was a bit too flippant for the moment we find ourselves in. We would just like to make this comment too. We want to make that clear. We have differences in coverage with Fox News, and that’s a good debate that we should have often, but right now I just want to say that there are a lot of good people at Fox News who care about Pete Hegseth and that We will also want to leave it at that.”

In his follow-up post, Frum agreed that “there are good people at Fox News,” but added that if NBC’s report is to be believed, “many of those good people have failed to publicly report that you “He led the United States Armed Forces and was notorious in their own building for his drinking.”

Frum also expressed sympathy that the popularity of “Morning Joe” has in turn “subjected hosts and producers to extraordinary stress and threats in the Trump era,” particularly given the president-elect’s own claims of retaliation against it In his opinion, he was spoken badly about in the media.

He took responsibility for the comment (“my face was on the screen, my name was on the chyron, and anyone who took offense knows who to blame,” Frum writes), but added a cool warning : “It is a very threatening thing if.” Our leading forums for discussing public affairs are already feeling the chill of intimidation and are responding with appeasement efforts.”

“I don’t write to scold anyone; I write because fear is contagious. If it spreads, it will cripple us all,” Frum continued. “The only antidote is courage. And that’s also contagious.”

Frum was invited back to “Morning Joe” Thursday morning by Richard Hudock, vice president of communications for NBC. He wrote on

“We have great respect for @davidfrum and his contributions; He is a valued member of the @Morning_Joe family. We invite him to join us tomorrow to discuss this issue and other pressing news of the day.”

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