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Gov. Rick Snyder, apparently trying to get a handle on the public nightmare resulting from the Flint water crisis, took to the air on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show Thursday and address Hillary Clinton's harsh comments about him and whether people should go to jail over lead-contaminated drinking water.
Co-host Mika Brezinski asked:
So, with all due respect, I just feel the need to ask, I mean, it's sort of like when we're talking about Wall Street and - and -- shouldn't somebody -- isn't there negligence to the point that maybe perhaps carries over into the legal realm here? Shouldn't there be consequences that go far beyond what you're talking about? And when you talk about the numbers of children who are poisoned, shouldn't someone be going to jail?
Snyder responded:
Well, again, that - that process is going on and I appreciate the people. Actually, I encourage people to do their investigations and it includes the U.S. attorney, includes the Michigan attorney general. All those efforts are going on and should go on, and we should get lessons learned, and if people did inappropriate things, actions should clearly be taken from a legal point of view.
That absolutely needs to take place, no doubt about that, but they're doing their good work. My point is is given that they're doing their work, shouldn't most of our focus -- the rest of us be focused in on helping the people of Flint? Shouldn't that be the top priority in terms of our efforts while this -- these investigations are going on?
Earlier, co-host Joe Scarborough asked about Hillary Clinton's sharp attacks on him.
Scarborough: I want you first to respond to Hillary Clinton's charge that you poisoned, quote, "poisoned people to save money."
Snyder: That's not accurate. This was a terrible tragedy and it really goes to multiple levels of government. There were bureaucrats, the state government that made mistakes, serious mistakes, in common sense and judgment. There were mistakes at the EPA, and the real question is -- is these people work for me at the state government so I am taking responsibility for their actions and I'm focused in on fixing the problem.
This is about solving this issue and we shouldn't put politics into this. We should all be rallying together to say how do we make things better in Flint? And that's my focus, and that's why I'm proud of the budget I just announced yesterday.
