Politics
MSNBC Execs Order Maddow To Tone Down Trump Hate
The resistance may still have its own cable news channel, but that doesn’t mean its leading men and women have full freedom to push pessimism, bitterness, and doom.
MSNBC executives are reportedly adjusting the programming of Rachel Maddow and other recognizable on-air personalities who have leaned a little too heavily into the anti-Trump talk since the inauguration, a comfortable position no doubt, but not one that is drawing back exhausted liberal viewers.
While the chyrons still blare the blow-by-blow of every move made by President Donald Trump, behind the scenes, staffers say they are operating with limited information about the future of their programming. Maddow, for example, is exhausted herself, insiders say, and at the conclusion of Trump’s first 100 days she plans to step back from her nightly one-hour program and begin to boost her stops along the late-night TV circuit where she has occasionally appeared on “Late Night with Stephen Colbert,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and other friendly turfs.
The rotation will see Jen Psaki put into a more prominent role as the “guinea pig” tasked with keeping MSNBC’s flagging rates above water without Maddow’s assistance. Making the job tougher are new rules being handed down by MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler, a protegé of CNN’s Jeff Zucker.
“Fantastic leader,” one rival TV exec told Politico. “Knows how to move fast and is unafraid to break things,” said a former colleague.
Kutler is believed to be the driving force behind pushing out Joy Reid after several Comcast executives rolled their eyes at some of her most bombastic on-air rants. When Reid failed to take the hint after a salary cut, it was Kutler who swung the axe and “DOGE’d” the staff, most of whom either lost their jobs or were forced to reapply for positions with the network.
“For a long time, talent had a lot of power here and now they don’t,” one MSNBC staffer said.
There are still a few names who hold sway with network leadership — Maddow, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, and Nicole Wallace — but the pool has shrunk, they added.
And while Maddow continues to be “ratings Viagra” for MSNBC, as one insider put it, Kutler is pushing her lead woman to inject more “hopeful news” into her coverage. Other instructions include hosting guests with competing viewpoints, akin to the CNN roundtables featuring conservative Scott Jennings that have mined viral gold. Breaking news banners should not appear as though every move by Trump is a five-alarm fire.
The stakes are high, given MSNBC’s corporate separation from NBC as Comcast works to position the liberal network into a profitable standalone. Kutler has been pushing her talent stable to branch out beyond their comfort zones, taking to TikTok or personalized subscription services where viewers may gain more exclusive access for a monthly fee.
Psaki cautioned that the transition to the top of the talent pool could be bumpy.
“I could never be Rachel even if I trained for five years in Rachel Maddow bootcamp, so all I can be is myself,” Psaki told the outlet. “I come from 20 years of experience in government and politics. I want people to see it…as a real talk place where I’m going to give them a sense of what’s happening.”
