MSNBC cuts off correspondent as he replies ‘s***’ and ‘f***’ to anchor question about transition

Ken Dilanian quickly apologises for swearing live on air

MSNBC cut off a correspondent as he replied “s***” and ”f***” to the anchor’s question about the presidential transition.

Host Craig Melvin was left bemused after asking national security correspondent Ken Dilanian about how the White House was dealing with president-elect Joe Biden.

“Okay,” said a confused Mr Melvin as his colleague dropped the expletives.

Mr Dilanian quickly took to Twitter to apologise and explain his embarrassing on-air mistake.

The journalist said the issue was caused by technical difficulties he had as he began his report and he did not realise his microphone was still on.

“So sorry for the profanity I used on air last hour. I was experiencing some technical difficulties and mistakenly hung up on the control room, though my mic still was on,” he tweeted.

“Perils of playing producer, cameraman and tech support all at the same time from home. #2020.”

The older sister of vice president-elect Kamala Harris, Maya Harris, told her Twitter followers how much she had enjoyed the incident, describing it as “perfect in every way.”

“Ken Dilanian...for the win!” she added.