MSNBC is often criticized as “Democratic propaganda” by conservative pundits. Network host Ari Melber believes that’s not always an accurate representation.
While appearing on Mediate’s SiriusXM program, Melber argued that — at least on his show, The Beat, which airs weekdays at 6 PM ET — they attempt to bring Republican lawmakers onto the show, with varying results.
“It’s become harder to do that for all the reasons I think everybody knows,” he shared, “and it’s harder to book. We’ve had weeks where we’ve had requests to many members of Congress in both parties, and only a handful of Republicans are responsive. That’s ultimately their choice.”
When asked if those conservatives were avoiding his program, and MSNBC as a whole, to go on more friendly outlets like Newsmax or OAN, Ari Melber said he couldn’t answer that question.
“You’d have to ask them, they don’t always write out a reason. I want to be as fair as possible,” he stated. “On the show, I’m not always telling my viewers, here’s the people who said no. Everyone nowadays is a media critic and has access to information, and everyone makes up their own minds. But there are all these ways that it’s affected not only by who the host or the show invites, but also who is responsive. But that’s our view.
“I think the data bears this out that there’s a lot of places that aren’t having the full perspective on, and there may be different reasons for that … I think people benefit from that. I think sometimes it is adversarial and combative in an important way where you get farther towards the truth.”
