MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell apologizes for unverified Trump-Russia report
MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell apologizes and retracts a report that directly tied President Trump's finances to Russia. The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway reacts.
Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple slammed MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell Thursday for presenting “uncorroborated, wish-fulfillment garbage” to viewers and questioned if the far-left pundit is “fit” to continue hosting his show after a now-infamous retraction.
O’Donnell bypassed NBC’s standards when he claimed Tuesday night that President Trump possibly had loans cosigned by Russian oligarchs. O’Donnell has since apologized and retracted the singled-sourced, unverified report after Trump’s legal team sent a fiery letter threatening legal action. However, Wemple pondered if “such a fellow fit to host an MSNBC program” after the “catastrophe.”
O’Donnell repeatedly attempted to cushion his report by saying “if true,” which Wemple wrote could stick to him for the duration of his broadcasting career.
“He invoked it over and over on his Tuesday night program in reference to Donald Trump’s dealings with Deutsche Bank,” Wemple wrote. “O’Donnell’s actions are clearly reckless in layman’s terms.”
Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple isn’t sure if MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell is “fit” to host a cable news program.
The potentially career-defining moment occurred on Tuesday night when O’Donnell and fellow ultra-liberal MSNBC host Rachel Maddow were discussing how Trump was “able to obtain loans when no one else would loan him any money” when he tossed out the unverified speculation.
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“I may have some information, in this next hour, which would add a great deal to their understanding of that, if true, and I’ll be discussing it here,” O’Donnell said. "I stress ‘if true,’ because this is a single source who has told me that Deutsche Bank obtained tax returns… this single source close to Deutsche Bank has told me that Donald Trump’s loan documents there show that he has cosigners. That’s how he was able to obtain those loans and that the cosigners are Russian oligarchs."
Wemple wrote that with “repeated ‘if true’ caveats, O’Donnell was mocking the core idea of journalism,” which the media critic explains as “the verification of stray tips and rumors.”
O’Donnell has been ridiculed by media watchdogs on both sides of the political aisle and the MSNBC host admitted airing information that “wasn’t ready for reporting,” breaking NBC News regulations in the process.
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NBC News has not responded to multiple requests for comment. O’Donnell hosted his program as scheduled on Thursday night despite backlash.
“The catastrophe appears to flow from one man’s conclusion that having Russian oligarchs on Trump loan documents is a story that’s too good to check,” Wemple wrote. “Is such a fellow fit to host an MSNBC program?”