Free Republic

MSNBC cut away from a live Bernie Sanders press conference this afternoon as the Democratic presidential candidate was talking about his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. Watch the cutaway:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWizAOWLMjs "You've been listening to Bernie Sanders, less of a press conference, more of a speech. I want to turn back to the Republican side of things," said Kate Snow, as she pivoted to news of Ted Cruz firing a press spokesperson. MSNBC owner Comcast has lobbied for the TPP. Last year, it fired host Ed Schultz, an outspoken opponent of the agreement. A Media Matters study found that outside of...

Many Republicans have tried and failed to win the presidential nomination without support from the party establishment. Donald Trump argues he is different from those hopefuls because his wealth enables him to fund an insurgent campaign all by himself. But for all the talk about his money, so far, Trump isn’t using it. Trump campaign officials say he has only spent about $2 million – far less than fellow GOP candidates Dr. Ben Carson and Sen. Ted Cruz, for instance. each spent $5.5 million just through July, according to the latest FEC reports. Hillary Clinton’s campaign, meanwhile, spent $18 million...

Despite a heavy period of news that included the Boston Marathon bombings and the Jodi Arias trial, MSNBC's second-quarter ratings plunged to their lowest level since 2007. In primetime, MSNBC drew an average of 584,000 total viewers and 196,000 viewers in the key 25-54 age demographic. Those numbers were down 16% and 12%, respectively, from the second quarter of 2012. And they accounted for quarter lows not seen since the fourth and second quarters of 2007, respectively. The network had seen signs of this coming in some dreadful monthly ratings, particularly in May. The same factors contributed to the network's...

Yesterday Mitt Romney turned a previously scheduled campaign event in Ohio into a hurricane relief event. Romney asked supporters to bring canned goods and other supplies to help storm victims recover on the East Coast. He only spoke for ten minutes at the event and quickly jumped in to help load supplies. His campaign bus has been accepting hurricane relief donations since Monday in Northern Virginia. Sounds like a great idea right? Not according to MSNBC. Reporters and anchors at the far-left TV outlet were appalled at Romney's efforts to give back to the community, after all, his charity and...

MSNBC's Chris Hayes during a discussion about the Romney and Obama campaign on his MSNBC weekend show "Up with Chris Hayes." "If I could just be an annoying buzzkill precious liberal for a second, I'm not psyched about this sort of America first theme as being what to lead with," MSNBC's Chris Hayes said at the top of the second hour on his morning weekend program. Hayes and his panel were discussing the Obama and Romney campaigns.

Trayvon Martin’s death in Florida is a terrible tragedy made even worse by a police department that seemingly bungled the investigation. There are multiple eyewitnesses, some who saw the shooter, George Zimmerman, yelling for help. Others saw Trayvon Martin yelling for help. It shouldn’t be a partisan issue. But MSNBC decided to make it one. According to Karen Finney on MSNBC, the Koch Brothers, NRA, and other conservatives are responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death. They have blood on their hands because they apparently built a time machine with their billions and went back to 1789 and inserted the second amendment...

The lack of current events knowledge demonstrated by today's anchors and political commentators is often breathtaking. On Sunday's Meet the Press, host David Gregory actually told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), "Democrats haven't put together a budget in a year." Actually, it's been almost three years. DAVID GREGORY, HOST: Talk about who should have the most influence in this new year and Gallup has a poll that was very interesting. I'll put it up on the screen. Forty-six percent said President Obama, but 42 percent said Republicans in Congress and this is after you and President Obama had been...

On Sunday's Meet the Press on NBC, as guest Rick Santorum criticized President Obama for not supporting a democracy movement in Iran that might have weakened the anti-America radical Muslim government of Tehran, but, by contrast, supported a democracy movement in Egypt directed against a pro-America government - which resulted in an election that recently handed more power in Cairo to radical Muslims - host David Gregory accused the GOP presidential candidate of being "patently contradictory." As he moved into this foreign policy portion of the interview, Gregory brought up a recent speech in which Santorum accused President Obama of

Top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Wednesday defended their companies' pay practices which have drawn opposition after it was disclosed the government-controlled firms were paying out nearly $13 million in executive bonuses. Michael Williams, chief executive of Fannie Mae, and Charles Haldeman, Freddie Mac's chief executive, both argued the compensation structures at the mortgage finance firms were warranted to retain and attract qualified staff. A bill to block the pay packages was approved by the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday in a 52-4 vote. The full House must still vote on the measure. A similar bill...

Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received the biggest federal bailout of the financial crisis. And nearly $100 million of those tax dollars went to lucrative pay packages for top executives, filings show. The top five executives at Fannie Mae received $33.3 million in 2009 and 2010, while the top five at Freddie Mac received $28.1 million. And each company has set pay targets of as much as $17 million for its top managers for 2011. That's a total of $95.4 million, which will essentially be coming from taxpayers, who have been keeping the mortgage finance giants alive...

Twenty years ago, NBC's "Today" devoted three days of interviews to the insufferable Kitty Kelley, who unspooled baseless allegations against Nancy Reagan, like her supposed love affair with Frank Sinatra. That kind of tabloid bilge belched back up the garbage disposal on Sept. 16, when "Today" promoted the new Palin-bashing book "The Rogue," by leftist author Joe McGinniss. NBC doesn't have an evidence standard when its conservatives are being gored. With liberals, it's a different story. NBC didn't give a second to McGinniss after liberals roundly condemned him in 1993 for his Ted Kennedy book "The Last Brother." In 1996,...

Talking to "Meet the Press" moderator David Gregory on Sunday's NBC Today, co-host Jenna Wolfe asked about President Obama's proposed "Buffet Rule," designed to increases taxes on the rich, which she assumed "will sit well with the American people overall." David Gregory agreed but lamented: "...the President's got to think about what he can do to actually get some agreement with Republicans. And I don't see this getting anywhere." Gregory complained: "If Democrats are supposed to cut entitlements, aren't Republicans going to have to give at all on the idea of tax increases?... But we saw in the debt fight...

Brian Williams must crave attention. In the latest Republican debate, instead of moderating, he personally debated all the participants. The actual discussion between candidates was more civil and constructive than the endless string of gotcha speeches foisted as questions on the panel by NBC's Williams and his Politico sidekick, John Harris. Question after question was an attempt to put each GOP candidate on the defensive. More accusation and White House talking points passed from the lips of Williams and Harris than legitimate questions looking to determine the ideas of the candidates and how they differed. As a result the debate...

The NBC and ABC morning shows on Friday indicated a growing impatience with not knowing Sarah Palin's presidential plans. NBC's Chuck Todd declared of the Labor Day holiday, "I think one thing about Sarah Palin is that this is her last weekend to cry wolf, essentially." Over on Good Morning America, George Stephanopoulos talked to reporter John Berman and insisted, "But, as you point out, the longer she stays out [of the 2012 race], actually, the less relevant she becomes." The ex-Alaska governor will be visiting New Hampshire and Iowa over the long weekend. Berman expressed bewilderment about Palin's intentions,...

Listen to the pledge of allegiance that runs alongside the patriotic images, and later to the one that overlays video of previous U.S. Open winners: (VIDEO)

As Noel Sheppard reported earlier, in the show-opening feature of its coverage of the final round of the US Open golf championship today, NBC--twice--edited out the words "under God" from its clip of school children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Clearly many Americans were offended and let NBC know about it. Because later in the broadcast, one of the announcers issued an apology. But the network simply compounded one omission with another. The apology spoke of "a portion of the Pledge" being edited out--but never mentioned that the omitted words were "under God." View video here.

Trying to play up the idea of chaos in the Republican 2012 field, on Thursday's NBC Today, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd argued Sarah Palin's bus tour making a stop in New Hampshire on Thursday was "a little bit of a slap in Mitt Romney's face" on the day he was planning to announce his candidacy. Co-host Meredith Vieira had asked Todd about Romney's upcoming announcement and claimed the former Massachusetts governor would have to "steal back the spotlight" from Palin. Todd declared that Palin was "not even giving him [Romney] one news cycle to make his case."

Meet the Press" host David Gregory said Friday there are "prominent views within Israel" that support President Obama's controversial Mideast peace ideas expressed the day before. When asked by MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, "What major Israeli public figures have come out supporting the President's speech," Gregory couldn't name one (video follows with transcript and commentary): ... Unfortunately for the "Meet the Press" host, Scarborough exposed the charade with a simple question. Readers are reminded that Gregory has been celebrated by his comrades in the media all week for his gotcha interview with Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich last Sunday. Unlike those...

With a history of accusations of misogynistic behavior from both the left, MSNBC “Hardball” host Chris Matthews is not showing any indications that he’s willing to tread carefully, especially when it comes to discussing conservative women. On his Tuesday MSNBC “Hardball” program, Matthews took another swipe at former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. In a discussion about the prospects of Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann’s shot at the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, Matthews was warned by one of his guests not to count out Palin, to which he immediately downplayed her viability.

Only Good Morning America's Jake Tapper on Tuesday pointed out the relatively low public support for Barack Obama's military actions in Libya and the harsh criticism from both the right and the left. On NBC's Today, Chuck Todd parroted, "[Obama] also took the opportunity to rebut critics on the left and the right about how and whether to target Qadhafi with the military. In total the President used the framework of American values to make the case." On CBS's Early Show, Bill Plante narrated, "The President defended his decision to use military force in Libya, he said that when the...