President Donald Trump called for the MSNBC cable news network to be shuttered in an evening rant on Truth Social.
Reacting to reports that CNN is planning to lay off hundreds of employees amidst a ratings crisis, Trump wrote on his social media platform: “MSDNC is even worse than CNN. They shouldn’t have a right to broadcast — Only in America!”
It was a clear shot at MSNBC, with “MSDNC” being a portmanteau of the Democratic National Convention’s DNC and the left-leaning broadcast network. The “Only in America” part was a reference to… it’s not clear. Probably not Don King.
After an initial ratings dip following Trump’s re-election victory in November, MSNBC clawed its way back in early January to become the third most-watched basic cable network during primetime, Adweek reported. Many of MSNBC’s hosts have been frequent critics of Trump.
Trump has often hit back with long-running feuds simmering between him and the network’s on-air talent.
Morning Joe co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough have had an on-again off-again relationship with Trump who they platformed regularly before the 2016 election. That closeness turned sour and Trump made a series of brutal personal digs about Brzezinski.
The morning show hosts said they planned to take a more conciliatory approach to covering him after his re-election and went down to Florida to see him after he won, much to the fury of some of their network colleagues. However, they blasted Trump for pardoning more than 1,500 criminals who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, on his first day in office.
Star host and Trump antagonist Rachel Maddow is now back to hosting her show five nights per week during the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, as the network looks to boost faltering ratings with one of Trump’s most persistent and relentless critics.
Joy Reid, a former Daily Beast columnist who has become one of the network’s most outspoken hosts, has already mocked Trump’s “over the top” and “performative” inauguration benediction.
The Daily Beast has reached out to MSNBC for comment.
Trump’s missive comes just three months after he said CBS should lose its broadcast license over its 60 Minutes interview with his election opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris. He’s currently trying to sue that network into oblivion.
In October, the president took issue with CBS editing out about 75 seconds of a meandering answer Harris gave on Israel during the show’s initial broadcast. The network later posted the unedited version on its YouTube channel.
Trump—who refused to sit down with 60 Minutes at all—declared it an “UNPRECEDENTED SCANDAL” and “FAKE NEWS SCAM, which is totally illegal.”
“TAKE AWAY THE CBS LICENSE,” he wrote on Truth Social at the time.
He then filed a $10 billion lawsuit in Texas accusing CBS of “partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion.” The network responded by saying the interview was edited for time, and that any claims it had acted “nefariously” were “entirely unfounded.”
Considering Trump ended up winning the election, it’s not clear how he could claim $10 billion in actual damages.
And yet, CBS owner Paramount has considered settling the suit because it plans to merge with Skydance Media—a deal that Trump’s Federal Communications Commission needs to approve, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Incoming FCC Chair Brendan Carr has warned Paramount executives that Trump’s disapproval of CBS will make the merger review tougher than they expected, according to the Journal.
All of which makes it fair to wonder just how far Trump will take his grievance against mean old MSNBC.
