UPDATE: White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that the remark was “inappropriate.” Meanwhile, “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart offered a far more animated response to Halperin's remark, calling it “one of the greatest things I've ever seen.” Roll tape:



Hey, Time magazine’s Mark Halperin, what did you think of President’s Obama performance at his press conference on Wednesday?

“I thought he was kind of a d*ck yesterday.”

Now tell us what you really think, Mark.

Halperin, who is also a political analyst for MSNBC, made that comment on the network’s “Morning Joe” program today. He quickly apologized:

“Joking aside, this is not a proforma apology, it’s an absolute apology—heartfelt to the president and to the viewers. I became part of the joke, but that’s no excuse. I made a mistake. And I’m sorry and I shouldn’t have said it, and I apologize to the president and the viewers who heard me say it.”

He also tweeted an apology. MSNBC has suspended Halperin indefinitely—although it hasn’t removed the video from its website. (And why would it? The thing is going viral.)

If you’re going to appear on national television and call the president a four-letter word, at least have the—ahem—intestinal fortitude to stand by it.

Ah, the liberal media elite.