MSNBC panelists got into a huge brush-up after it was announced the inauguration of the president would be moved indoors.
Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Stephen Steele tried to correct a colleague about when the US Constitution states the ceremony should be held - while getting it wrong himself.
The conversation surrounded the current frigid temperatures in Washington, DC, and whether a scheduling change was in order.
Steele, once the head of the Republican National Convention (RNC), expressed his desire to once again hold inaugurations in March - a practice undone in 1933 by the 20th Amendment.
Seemingly unaware of this, Steele lamented the decision, questioning why it was made in the first place.
Fellow host Symone Sanders-Townsend - the old senior advisor to Kamala Harris - at this point spoke up, correctly saying it was tenet of the Constitution.
Steele, 66, expressed confusion, correctly saying himself the ceremony had been held in the spring up until the swearing-in of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He went on to state that the stipulation it be held in January was not present in the supreme law of the United States - leaving egg on his face in the process.
MSNBC panelists got into a bit of a brush-up Monday during the network's inauguration coverage over a factual inaccuracy, after former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Stephen Steele attempted to correct The Weekend host Symone Sanders-Townsend, but got it wrong himself
The conversation surrounded the current frigid temperatures in Washington, DC, and whether a scheduling change was in order to avoid such cold. Temperatures in the municipality were well below freezing Monday, leaving attendees to line up in the cold
'Well, there's still the value of moving the inauguration back to March,' he said, a year after being named The Weekend's host alongside Sanders-Townsend, 35, and Alicia Menendez.
Steele, responding to B-roll showing thousands already lined up outside for the following morning, continued: 'I don't know why they ever moved to January in the first place.
'But here we are,' he asked incredulously.
A visibly puzzled Sanders-Townsend at this point cut in, leading to some audible awkwardness in real-time.
'The Constitution,' she answered, over some crosstalk.
'What was that?' her senior, who received a BA in international studies from the Johns Hopkins University in 1981, replied.
'The Constitution,' a smiling Sanders-Townsend said again, referring to the well-known amendment.
Steele still disagreed, arguing again, 'No, the inauguration was held in March right up through Roosevelt.
'And then they changed it,' Steele said of the decision to move the ceremony from March to January, still unaware it came from the US Constitution. 'It ain't in the Constitution. Let's, come on....' He trailed off at a point, as Sanders-Townsend and Alicia Menendez exchanged glances
'And then they changed it,' he continued, still unaware of his oversight. 'It ain't in the Constitution. Let's, come on....'
He trailed off as anchors Sanders-Townsend and Menendez, 41, exchanged awkward glances.
Steele, at this point, let out a laugh, oblivious as his co-hosts announced they were giving way to a commercial break.
'Okay, that's what we're going to do,' Steele said, not being corrected before viewers.
He had not been wrong in insisting that past presidents have been sworn in during the month of March, but missed the fact that that changed in 1933, when the 20th Amendment was passed to shorten the transition time between administrations.
As a result, the official inaugural date was changed to January 20, leaving FDR the last sitting president to be sworn-in in March or his first inauguration in 1933.
That's where the head of state uttered the now famous line - 'the only thing we have to fear is fear itself'.
Four years later, he'd become the first to take the oath on January 20 - a day specifically mentioned in the amendment that's meant to streamline the transfer of power.
Over the course of the conversation, Steele continued to express confusion - after correctly saying himself the ceremony had been held in the spring up until the swearing-in of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933 (seen here)
Four years later, he'd become the first to take the oath on January 20 - a day specifically mentioned in the amendment that's meant to streamline the transfer of power
The Library of Congress, meanwhile, sheds more light on this tradition, stating, in part, that 'Until the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, the official day for presidential inaugurations was March 4.
When the fourth fell on a Sunday, as it did in 1821, 1849, 1877, and 1917, the ceremonies were held on March 5.'
Since 1933, the term of each elected president begins at noon on January 20 of the year after the preceding election.
