Blog

MSNBC has taken its celebrated "Morning Joe" off-air on Monday reportedly on fears that their well-known leftist hosts could say the wrong thing or something deeply insensitive about the Saturday Trump assassination attempt which could leave the network in a bind. The show is missing in action on this crucial day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

"The progressive news network confirmed the decision to preempt its influential and top-rated morning show after a CNN inquiry Sunday evening," CNN confirms. "The network said the show will resume airing Tuesday." 

As speculation abounds, and as some try to dubiously claim that it's 'normal' for Morning Joe to not air during a major political news event, NBC issued the following statement: "Given the gravity and complexity of this unfolding story, NBC News, NBC News NOW and MSNBC have remained in rolling breaking news coverage since Saturday evening," a spokesperson said.

The press release followed with: "As we continue to cover this story into the week, the networks will continue to cross simulcast, alternating between NBC News, NBC News NOW and ‘MSNBC Reports,’ so there is one news feed covering this developing situation."

CNN then admitted the following based on one of its sources:

Indeed there is a long history of show hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski making astounding and highly incendiary claims which leave network executives facing scrutiny and having to field difficult questions.

At the very least, the decision to pull the program on Monday displays lack of trust in the long-running program and hosts by top network leadership.

Conservative pundit Laura Loomer sounded off in wake of the decision, pointing out the following:

Ironically some on the Left are miffed at the display of obvious lack of trust, with Liberal journalist Jeff Jarvis questioning on X, "What the f—, MSNBC? You preempted your excellent weekend programming… and now you've silenced [Morning Joe] in favor of your anodyne streaming news cos-play called Now?"

"This is when we need the analysis and conversation these shows bring us (yes, with controversy; that is how public discourse works through it: with discussion)," he continued. "It is shocking that NBC/Comcast do not understand their own company's programs and raison d'etre."

But again, MSNBC has not alluded to any deeper reasons behind temporarily pulling the program other than to say it wishes to provide coverage via a single news feed.

* * *

Meanwhile, this kind of scrambling to reign in the narrative is on display at a number of other outlets too, Glenn Greenwald points out…