By Lindsay Powers
NEW YORK — Time magazine editor-at-large Mark Halperin has been suspended as MSNBC’s senior political analyst after calling President Barack Obama a “dick” on Morning Joe. “Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable,” the network said in a statement. “We apologize to the president, the White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse, and comments like these have no place on our air. Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.” Said Halperin in a statement: “I completely agree with everything in MSNBC’s statement about my remark. I believe that the step they are taking in response is totally appropriate. Again, I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the president, to my MSNBC colleagues, and to the viewers. My remark was unacceptable, and I deeply regret it.” On Thursday’s edition of Morning Joe, Halperin said of Obama while discussing his Wednesday news conference about the economy: “I thought he was a dick yesterday.” Joe Scarborough immediately said, according to Politico.com, “Delay that. Delay that. What are you doing? I can’t believe … don’t do that. Did we delay that?” A few moments later, Halperin said, “Joking aside, this is an absolute apology. I shouldn’t have said it.” Scarborough said the show wasn’t able to bleep the comment because the new executive producer, Alex Korson, didn’t know how the tape delay works. “You are supposed to know how to do the job,” Scarborough said. “I would tell you what I think of him, but he doesn’t know what button to push.”