Rachel Maddow of MSNBC Faces Online Backlash for Network's Truth Assurance Claim

Rachel Maddow of MSNBC Faces Online Backlash for Network's Truth Assurance Claim

Conservatives slammed MSNBC's Rachel Maddow for claiming that the network couldn't "knowingly broadcast untrue things" as the rationale for not broadcasting former President Donald Trump's post-indictment statement live.

The highly compensated anchor and Russiagate fan typically only appears on Monday nights, but on Tuesday, she joined MSNBC's special coverage of Trump's historic criminal charges, explaining why the liberal network chose not to broadcast Trump's speech to supporters in Bedminister, New Jersey, in real time. As we have previously stated in similar situations, she continued, "There is a cost to us as a journalistic institution to deliberately broadcast inaccurate stuff. "We're here to deliver the news. It hinders our ability to do so if we live broadcast what we fully expect to be a torrent of lies and false charges, regardless of who says them. I don't say this with joy, either.

"Rachel Maddow will decide which lies the public should hear." That will work out fine," writer Jason Whitlock responded on Twitter.

Outspoken White House correspondent Simon Ateba termed Maddow's comments "a lie," while the right-wing website The Post Millennial dubbed her a "disgraced propagandist."

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Matt Orfalea, a video editor, uploaded a montage of media coverage on COVID-19, which includes strong proclamations about vaccines on MSNBC and other networks. Maddow stated in 2021 that "vaccines work well enough that the virus stops with every vaccinated person," which proved to be false. While the vaccines have been helpful in reducing terrible outcomes, they have not prevented people from being infected with or spreading the virus. 

Maddow was also one of the faces of MSNBC's long-running obsession with the Trump-Russia conspiracy allegation and the ultimately debunked Christopher Steele dossier. In recent years, MSNBC has been chastised for promoting the liberal notion that the Hunter Biden laptop was part of a Russian disinformation effort, which has also been disproved.

"MSNBC's Rachel Maddow declared there's a cost for her network to 'knowingly broadcast untrue things,'" conservative media critic Kevin Tober wrote for NewsBusters.

Progressives in the media were happy with the network's stance. CNN's outspoken media correspondent Oliver Darcy tacitly commended Maddow, retweeting her explanation without comment. He also mentioned that CNN did not cover Trump live and couldn't help but poke fun at his former boss Chris Licht in his newsletter Tuesday night.

The network's handling of Trump's post-New York arraignment statement represented a dramatic change with the choice to not air his remarks live. In that scenario, Darcy noted, "CNN aired most of Trump's remarks under former boss Chris Licht."

Trump described his "sham" federal indictment as "election interference" by the Biden administration in speeches to supporters, calling it "the most heinous abuse of power in the history of our country."

Trump, the current Republican candidate for president in 2024, pleaded not guilty in federal court in Miami on Tuesday to 37 federal criminal counts stemming from an investigation into his alleged improper keeping of confidential records at Mar-a-Lago. He risks a prison term that might keep him locked up for the rest of his life.