Much of the Left is calling on the Democratic front-runners to boycott the MSNBC debate after Ronan Farrow’s reporting that MSNBC President Phil Griffin, NBC News and MSNBC Chairman Andy Lack, and NBC News President Noah Oppenheim silenced stories exposing sexual abuse by Matt Lauer and Harvey Weinstein.
NBC News decided to respond to this problem by hiding behind women. Instead of firing Griffin, Lack, and Oppenheim, the MSNBC debate will be moderated by an all-female panel.
Clearly Rachel Maddow, tapped by NBC to moderate November’s debate, isn’t having it.
The MSNBC star dug into the network last night, lambasting her bosses for letting Farrow’s reporting “get away,” and breaking the news that NBC will release former employees from any agreements they made to keep quiet on what they saw or heard in terms of workplace sexual misconduct. Maddow previously broke ranks with her bosses in the immediate aftermath of Farrow’s first Weinstein exposé, and if last night was any indication, her rebellion will not relent.
Nor should it. Trotting out four women to moderate a debate does nothing to ameliorate the destruction wrought by Griffin’s, Lack’s, and Oppenheim’s cover-up of Lauer and Weinstein’s malfeasance. Maddow, the highest-rated host on MSNBC, isn’t going to reject the moderation job that’s rightly her’s, but giving Maddow the equivalent of a participation trophy fixes nothing and surely will not stop her from holding the unholy trinity to account.
