\n<\/p>\n
Rachel Maddow, the most influential host on MSNBC, called out parent company Comcast on Monday night for being among the corporations that contributed financially to the White House\u2019s expensive East Wing ballroom construction project.<\/p>\n
Last week, the White House released a list of 37 large corporations \u2013 including Google and Apple \u2013 and individual donors that have contributed to the $300m ballroom project. But only one, Comcast, owns and operates media companies, including the left-leaning MSNBC.<\/p>\n
The announcement has created an awkward on-air dynamic for the hosts and journalists at the network, who have covered the backlash to the contributions, which have raised concerns about quid pro quo.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor every Avelo Airlines, for every Paul Weiss law firm, and all the other law firms that did corrupt deals with Trump, for every corporation \u2013 like our parent company for another hot minute, Comcast \u2013 that wants to pay for Trump to take a literal wrecking ball, excuse me, I mean an excavator to the White House,\u201d Maddow said on Monday, \u201cthose public-facing companies should know there\u2019s a cost in terms of their reputation with the American people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere may be a cost to their bottom line when they do things against American values, against the public interest, because they want to please Trump or buy him off or profit somehow from his authoritarian overthrow of our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawrence O\u2019Donnell, another primetime MSNBC host, also called out Comcast for only being concerned about its financial interests and ability to merge with or acquire other companies in the future. O\u2019Donnell called the destruction of the East Wing \u201ca unique presidential crime against our history and our culture\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cComcast \u2013 the current but not for long owner of the company I now work for \u2013 doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s a big enough business,\u201d he said. \u201cComcast is committed to nothing but Comcast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maddow and O\u2019Donnell referenced the temporary nature of Comcast\u2019s control of their company. MSNBC is scheduled to be formally spun off from its parent, and to become part of a new company called Versant, in a few months. Starting 15 November, the network will become known as MS NOW.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Ruhle was the first MSNBC host to raise concerns about the donation during her late-night show last week. \u201cHere\u2019s the issue: Donors are paying for it. Corporations are paying for it. Comcast, our Comcast, is one of those that are underwriting this,\u201d she told viewers last Wednesday. \u201cShouldn\u2019t that be more concerning to the American people? Because there ain\u2019t no company out there writing a check just for goodwill.\u201d<\/p>\n
And a guest on the network, the Atlantic writer David Frum, suggested on MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace\u2019s show that Comcast likely has ulterior motives for the donation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone who is giving the money, the quarter of a billion dollars to pay for [Trump\u2019s new ballroom], with all due respect to Comcast \u2013 thank you for the hospitality \u2013 is doing so in expectation of something in return,\u201d said Frum. \u201cThey\u2019re not doing it for love of ballroom dancing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Journalists who work for NBC News, which is also owned by Comcast, have noted in reports that their parent company is among the contributors.<\/p>\n
Jennifer Khoury, a spokesperson for Comcast, did not reply to a request for comment about the donation and the MSNBC host backlash to it. MSNBC also declined to comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rachel Maddow, the most influential host on MSNBC, called out parent company Comcast on Monday night for being among the corporations that contributed financially to the White House\u2019s expensive East Wing ballroom construction project. Last week, the White House released a list of 37 large corporations \u2013 including Google and Apple \u2013 and individual donors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[17373,9095,18172,14445,10488,10160,2070,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-31146","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-ballroom","9":"tag-comcast","10":"tag-criticize","11":"tag-donating","12":"tag-hosts","13":"tag-msnbc","14":"tag-owner","15":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}