MSNBC took one of its most well-known shows off the air on Monday.
On Monday, CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported that “Morning Joe” was “pulled” from the air and replaced with breaking news coverage of the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.
“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,” Darcy wrote.
He went on:
“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.”
According to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to Darcy, “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.”
However, a spokesperson for the network told CNN, “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.”
“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,” they added.
The decision was reportedly made by Cesar Conde, the chairman of NBCUniversal News Group, MSNBC’s president Rashida Jones, and the hosts of “Morning Joe” Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
