Former MSNBC host Krystal Ball said on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher Friday night that she believes her former network has done more to hurt the progressive cause than help it throughout President Trump’s time in office.
“Do you feel networks like MSNBC … help or hurt progressive causes?” host Bill Maher asked Ball on the show.
“Overall, I think MSNBC in the Trump era has done real damage to the Left, and I’ll tell you why,” Ball began to say.
“Damage?” Maher interrupted with surprise.
“And I say that with love,” Ball continued. “I mean these are my former colleagues, friends. I mean, look, the Russia story and what happened there was important. But it was not all-important. And they went so far into the realm of conspiracy theorizing, I mean, they had Jonathan Chait on.”
Maher cut off Ball again, saying the Russia story “was a conspiracy.”
“They had Jonathan Chait on to talk about how Trump may have been a Russian plant since 1987,” Ball continued.
“He may have been,” Maher said.
“This is ridiculous, OK,” Ball said. “This is way out from what journalistic facts said, and it’s to the exclusion of other stories that people actually care about.”
She noted several other prominent issues unfolding at the time and accused MSNBC of not focusing enough attention on them because the network was tuned into “one thing.” She said MSNBC intensified expectations about former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report to such a degree that many people thought it was not as big of a deal when the report was actually released.
New York Times opinion writer Bari Weiss agreed with Ball’s assertion, saying the hype surrounding the report meant “anything short of a pee tape was nothing.”
Maher alleged that the person who “shit the bed” was Robert Mueller, and the audience roared with applause.
