Lawrence O’Donnell bent his Harvard education completely out of shape this week. He did that by speaking on-air about an unfounded accusation that Donald Trump procured loans with Russian co-signers.
Twenty-four hours later, O’Donnell was forced to retract his accusation. He said that the so-called evidence should have gone through MSNBC’s “rigorous standards and verification process.”
To make his stupid accusation, O’Donnell used the media’s latest favorite phrase “If true.”
This phrase is meant to absolve them of all responsibility so they don’t need to verify any information they receive, true or not. Of course, they will only use this phrase when they have no reliable sources.
MSNBC Russia Collusion Verification
Considering how MSNBC hammered on Russian Collusion for two solid years, that “rigorous verification process” must be a new innovation.
At least it took less than 24 hours for them to make this retraction. The whole world is still waiting for the “Russia Collusion” retraction. It may never come, even though it was total #FAKENEWS.
So, perhaps they really do have an editorial process now. They may be trying to regain their lost status as a serious news network. If that is the network’s intention, O’Donnell obviously didn’t get the memo. Instead, he solidly reinforced their Fake News status.
Maddow Stunned
Surprisingly, Rachel Maddow may have received the memo, because she appeared to be stunned by O’Donnell’s new revelation.
Life is stranger than fiction.
This 24-hour episode leaves us with a serious question. Is MSNBC finally over its Russia Collusion Hoax? Lawrence O’Donnel clearly wasn’t over it until he was forced to make the retraction. Only time will tell.
Redemption
If MSNBC is trying to redeem itself, will it gain any conservative viewers? That seems unlikely. Will the network lose die-hard progressives who still believe in Russian Collusion? If it attracted never-Trumpers, will they drift away?
Watch for the programming and then the next ratings cycle to find out!
