Rep. Trey Gowdy takes a none-too-subtle shot at MSNBC host

The South Carolina lawmaker’s remarks came during a congressional hearing featuring testimony by Jonathan Gruber, an architect of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act and MIT health economist who is in hot water over his recent controversial comments regarding the “lack of transparency” and the “stupidity of the American voter” that made its passage possible.

“I know initially that you said that you offered these comments at a conference. I think you meant ‘conferences.’ Plural,” Gowdy told Gruber, referring to the fact that the economist’s remarks were made during multiple events, not at one isolated incident.

“But you said [you spoke at one] conference when you went on a very obscure television show and initially apologized for what you said were inappropriate comments,” he said.

American Commitment, a conservative activist group, on Nov. 7, 2014, uploaded footage of Gruber saying in 2013 that Obamacare was approved by Congress thanks to the “stupidity of American voters.” The backlash was immediate and fierce.

In response to criticism generated by his remarks, Gruber appeared on MSNBC’s “Ronan Farrow Daily” on Nov. 11, explaining in an interview with the show’s host that his “stupidity” comments were “off the cuff” and made in error.

However, in the days thereafter, reporters and bloggers uncovered additional footage of Gruber speaking at separate events, each video featuring the economist discussing various aspects involved in crafting Obamacare.

Gruber has not returned to Farrow’s program to explain his explanation.

Farrow’s show is consistently one of the least-watched programs on cable television.

“Only 13,000 viewers in the key A25-54 demo tuned into Ronan Farrow’s MSNBC show Monday during the 1pm ET timeslot,” Mediabistro reported on Dec. 3. “The last time MSNBC was under 13,000 for the timer period was back on Feb. 17, 2005 when the network drew 11K viewers in the key demo.”