It’s one of the oldest political tricks in the book: if you’re a politician who doesn’t want to answer a particular question, just pretend like you didn’t hear it!

This phenomenon has become quite prominent in the age of satellite interviews, where guests can easily blame supposedly failing earpieces for not transmitting an uncomfortable query. But it’s interesting how those earpieces always seem to magically work throughout the entire rest of the interview. After all, if you can’t hear anything, how is it that you know exactly when to answer the question?

Well, that’s exactly what happened on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports this afternoon, when Democrat Senator Tom Harkin, who hosted Hillary Clinton at his annual “steak fry” this weekend, was called upon to answer whether he’ll support her candidacy if and when she finally declares her run for the White House in 2016.

Of course, Andrea let him off the hook, and even apologized for the “audio problems.” Way to bail him out there, you biased ball of broadcasting, you. At that point, why even ask the question in the first place?