A small but stunning moment during on Morning Joe this week seemed to perfectly encapsulate MSNBC’s current approach to covering politics, and it was not what was said that resonated — but what was ignored.
Mark Leibovich was invited to a panel discussion on the looming debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. What he did not talk about, nor was he asked about directly, was his most recent column in The Atlantic, headlined“Ruth Bader Biden,” in which he called Biden “much too old” to run and deemed his campaign “potentially disastrous.”
Leibovich is as tuned-in as anyone inside the Beltway. If you want a reporter who has their pulse on the wisdom of the political elite, he’s in the 99th percentile. His column arguing that Biden’s age is a serious problem no doubt landed like a bombshell among Democratic insiders. And yet, on Morning Joe, that debate was entirely ignored for a predictable and politically safe discussion about cheapfakes and debate rules.
Joe Scarborough seemed to tease the idea of discussing Leibovich’s column at the opening of the segment: “Let’s talk about the 800-pound elephant in the room.You are going to have two oldercandidates — both of whom each side claims is either not cogent or crazy.” The elephant, however, remained untouched. The segment ended with Leibovich lauding Biden’s ability to beat the low expectations of his critics.
Yet again, an opportunity for thoughtful criticism of Biden was reduced to what you might these days call standard Morning Joe fare, under the direction of a host who, by his own admission, regularly talks with Biden and reports back to his viewers on how sharp he is over the phone. Of course, it doesn’t require much cynicism to understand that by eliding Leibovich’s damning Ruth Bader Ginsburg comparison, Morning Joe kept MSNBC viewers from changing the channel in disgust.
The episode was reflective of a growing trend: MSNBC has regularly eschewed airing negative news about the Biden administration in favor of going all in on the threats of a second Trump administration.
You might agree that Trump is a unique threat to the country. But pair alarmist coverage of a potential second Trump term with the regular omission of real news that casts the current administration in a negative light and the result is a network not qualitatively different from the way critics describe Fox News. To be clear, I am not saying that MSNBC deserves the same sort of criticism that Fox News has received, whose recent coverage is quantitatively far more in the tank for Trump at exponentially higher levels. But Fox News gets loads of criticism, and MSNBC has largely gotten a pass from mainstream media.
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I know: Stop the presses! MSNBC’s liberal point of view isn’t exactly breaking news. I’m old enough to remember when Phil Griffin decided to embrace the “Lean Forward” branding campaign while the Obama administration was getting regularly hammered by Fox News and a fledgling Tea Party movement. Yet today’s MSNBC looks very different on many levels.
First and foremost, finding dissenting point of views on the network is harder than ever. MSNBC does feature many former conservatives as contributors or hosts, many of whom held lofty positions in Congress, Republican White Houses, or at the RNC. But each and every one of MSNBC’s conservatives is a committed “Never Trumper.” That may be an understandable position to take against the former president, but what thispractically means in terms of programming is that while the news being discussed changes, the point of view never does. Nearly every segment on every hour of every day is presented through a “Trump is bad” lens. And guess what? I fully agree that Trump is indeed bad. But ignoring the political challenges your candidate is facing does not make them go away.
That is not to say that Fox News was any different under Trump, nor that it has stopped doing his bidding. Yet two wrongs do not make a right.
More importantly, Fox News sets itself apart from its ideological rival in one significant way: at least the network features liberal pundits who challenge their conservative colleagues. Of course, liberal contributors have nowhere near equal footing on Fox News, but the network regularly features pundits like Jessica Tarlov pushing back on partisan narratives. Where is MSNBC’s version of Tarlov? Great question.
I’m not arguing that MSNBC should be seeking out pro-Trump voices. The failed launch of Ronna McDaniel’s punditry career proved the network’s chattering class rejected at least one house organ. There is a problem in finding voices willing to be critical of the Biden administration on MSNBC. On the other hand, the talent roster is stocked with fans of the Biden administration — including a number who actually worked in the Biden White House.
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There is no question that the biggest rising star at MSNBC in recent years is Jen Psaki, the highly respected former press secretary for President Biden. She was so good at her job that she even drew praise from Fox commentators who find it nearly impossible to say anything nice about the Biden team. She is on air often, not just hosting her own show but appearing on others as well as during major events, like the State of the Union or debate nights.
Psaki is exceedingly sharp, telegenic, and likable. However, she admitted it was difficult to be an objective news anchor on MSNBC after serving as Biden’s press secretary. In questions about Biden’s age, she said it was hard in her new media job not to regurgitate old talking points from her past one.
Her conversation with Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler and deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty included a moment during which a smiling Psaki told the pair about her “favorite” campaign meme they’ve created so far. “Let me ask you about another topic that comes up — I get asked about this a lot — is the president’s age,” noted Psaki in one instance, before framing the topic as the invention of “right-wing efforts.”
“He’s the age he is, but it still is an issue to combat, right? It pops in polls. It is something that comes up in focus groups. You, Rob, were a part of, I know, not alone, but kind of flipping the Dark Brandon meme to make it more of a winner, probably to the anger of the people who are screaming, you know, ‘Let’s go, Brandon’ at events. How do you combat this kind of ongoing attack on his age and these attacks and suggestions that he’s not up for the job?” she asked.
“So, the American people know Joe Biden’s age; they also know that with that age comes wisdom, experience, and judgment. That’s why they elected him in the first place. And I would also say that they understand that those qualities stand in stark contrast to everybody else on the other side, particularly as it relates to Donald Trump,” replied Tyler.
It’s not unfair to say that Psaki was gushing about the effectiveness of the Biden campaign effort. An objective observer might have difficulty seeing a line between her coverage and flatly amplifying Biden’s campaign material.
I don’t want to pick on Jen Psaki here — her commentary can be far more nuanced than, say, Symone Sanders-Townsend, another former Biden White House staffer turned MSNBC host, or even some of the network’s prime time programming. Still, it’s hard not to be reminded, when watching Psaki or any number of Biden aides turned MSNBC hosts, of the persistent refrain from the press during the Trump years that a revolving door between the Trump White House and Fox News was evidence of a network compromised by its proximity to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
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The most notable example of an MSNBC show being in the tank for Biden is arguably its most influential one: Morning Joe.
Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman who hails from the Redneck Riviera of the Florida panhandle, boasting a knack for nailing a moderate stance adored by viewers, is joined by avowed liberal Mika Brzezinksi and a regular panel of smart insiders. Their conversations are watched obsessively by cable news execs, talent, and elected officials across the partisan spectrum.
Their show is also watched by one very notable fan. Alex Thompson reported for Axios in February that Biden is apparently “obsessed” with Morning Joe, so much so that White House aides aim to be booked as guests between 7 and 7:40 AM “so they’ll reach one crucial and loyal viewer:President Biden.”
“Biden’s years-long love of MSNBC’s staple morning show affects how the White House runs — and who Biden listens to,” Thompson reports, adding, “The president often calls co-host Joe Scarborough — a former Republican congressman who’s now a harsh critic of Donald Trump — to get Scarborough’s take on issues and sometimes vent about media coverage, according to people familiar with the relationship.”
This reporting is not in dispute. Viewers often hear from Scarborough himself how sharp Biden is when he talks about his private phone calls with the president. That sort of insider insight adds to the aura of Morning Joe. But let’s be honest: When it was reported that Sean Hannity regularly chatted with Trump, the Fox News host was vilified by his cable news peers and labeled the “unofficial chief of staff” in the White House.
The most nakedly pro-Biden voice on MSNBC is its 10 PM host, Lawrence O’Donnell, who is unafraid to use soaring language that might embarrass Aaron Sorkin in his water-carrying for the Biden administration. Other prime time hosts are more focused on sounding the alarm on a potential Trump second term, and not unreasonably so. O’Donnell does that too, but he also serves what feels like an on-air spokesperson for the White House.
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During the early years of the Trump administration, then-CNN president Jeff Zucker famously derided Fox News as “state-run TV” during an interview with The New Yorker’s David Remnick. The comment was more of a self-aggrandizing assessment than a shot at his competitor: “Certainly in prime time and, in the morning, Fox is state-run TV and is extolling the line out of the White House. MSNBC has become the opposition. And I think CNN is seeking the truth.”
Joe Scarborough himself even labeled Fox News state-run television back in 2017, a dig that evokes Soviet apparatchiks committed to spewing the government line,like the Tass News Agency, which was more committed to pro-Soviet propaganda than reporting on news important to its audience.
Of course, unchecked hyperbole is a hallmark of cable news opinionators. Fox News wasn’t state-run TV under Trump. It was partisan and arguably propaganda (don’t take my word for it, just read the Dominion discovery). Frequent readers of this site know that I am also a vocal critic of Fox News, whose standards have devolved into a state of disrepair that would embarrass Andrew Breitbart.
But in light of MSNBC’s revolving door with the White House, relentless attacks on conservatives, gabfests between hosts and the president, and reliable Biden boosterism, why is it not receiving any scrutiny?
There is a double standard in the media’s adjudication of Fox News under Trump and MSNBC under Biden. The bad news for Biden is that judging how poorly he’s faring in the polls, it doesn’t appear to be helping him much.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
