MSNBC opts against airing ‘Morning Joe’ in wake of Trump assassination attempt
The progressive news network confirmed the decision to preempt its influential and top-rated morning show after a CNN inquiry Sunday evening. The network said the show will resume airing Tuesday.
GET reliable sources in your inbox
- A daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape with uncompromising reporting and analysis. Sign up here for the Reliable Sources newsletter.
The decision by MSNBC to leave one of its most recognizable programs on the sidelines amid a seismic politics-driven news cycle, with the Republican National Convention getting underway in the wake of the Saturday shooting at Trump’s campaign rally, is certain to raise eyebrows.
A person familiar with the matter told CNN that the decision was made to avoid a scenario in which one of the show’s stable of two dozen-plus guests might make an inappropriate comment on live television that could be used to assail the program and network as a whole. Given the breaking news nature of the story, the person said, it made more sense to continue airing rolling breaking news coverage in the fraught political moment.
“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 for NBCUniversal News Group said in a statement to CNN. “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.”
In the wake of the attempt on Trump’s life, some of the former president’s supporters have vehemently criticized the press and liberal media commentators for their hard-knuckled reporting, which has sounded the alarm on what four more years under the former president would look like.
Cesar Conde, the chairman of NBCUniversal News Group, made the decision in conjunction with Rashida Jones, the president of MSNBC, and hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the person familiar with the matter told CNN.
Over the course of the campaign cycle, news organizations have reported at length on Trump’s plans to warp the federal government for his own ends, including to seek vengeance against his political opponents. That reporting is now facing scrutiny, with some Trump supporters blaming it for producing a charged atmosphere that gave way to the assassination attempt, while mostly looking past the incendiary rhetoric of the former president himself.
MSNBC has, in particular, been blasted by Trump’s allies, putting the network in the spotlight. Some of Trump’s allies have gone as far as to attack the network’s parent company, Comcast.
It’s not the first time MSNBC has made such programming decisions in charged political moments.
Last year after Hamas executed its deadly October 8 attack on Israel, MSNBC quietly pulled three of its Muslim broadcasters from air. That move, which came after some pro-Israeli forces criticized the tone of the MSNBC’s coverage, left some staffers at the network feeling uncomfortable, Semafor reported at the time.
The business impact of MSNBC's decision to suspend its morning show during the Republican National Convention and the political turmoil could be significant, with potential advertisers considering their ad spending on media outlets perceived as taking a controversial stance. The media scrutiny of MSNBC's programming choices and the wider political landscape is likely to feature prominently in industry analyses and discussions.
