On Thursday, MSNBC’s 11:00 a.m. ET hour host Craig Melvin informed viewers that he would be leaving his time slot on the left-wing cable channel to focus on co-hosting NBC’s TodayBeing a show-off Dateline correspondent. However, before signing off MSNBC for the last time, the liberal anchor laughably claimed: “I’ve tried to cover the news fairly and steer clear of inserting my opinion or perspective.”
“This nearly decade-long stretch of hosting a cable news program has been a tremendous honor and I’m so very thankful for the opportunity to really have had a front row seat to so much history,” Melvin proclaimed. Melvin then reconstructed his MSNBC tenure. “And I’ve tried to cover the news fairly and steer clear of inserting my opinion or perspective. We’ve tried to traffic in facts and truth and let you makeup your mind every day, and I’m very proud of that.”
Melvin, contrary to these assertions, has injected a lot of opinions into his coverage of the left over the last decade. A look at the NewsBusters archives reveals that Melvin was far from fair.
Will Election of Black Republican Tim Scott ‘Come With An Asterisk?’
Melvin asked that question on February 18, 2014. He was advancing deplorable partisan attacks of South Carolina Democrats to the GOP Senator, who had been appointed at the time by Governor Nikki Haley.
Hailing ‘Classic Obama’ Issuing ‘Call to Action’ In Partisan Campaign Speech
On September 7, 2018, Melvin was truly in awe of former President Obama campaigning for fellow Democrats ahead of that year’s midterm elections by hurling repeated partisan attacks against then-President Trump and Republicans.
Is Left-Wing Beto O’Rourke Really ‘Liberal Enough’ for Democrats?
Melvin actually voiced that absurd concern on March 14, 2019 when discussing O’Rourke’s chances in the upcoming 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary after the former Texas Congressman entered the race.
Only ‘Whackos’ Believe ‘Nonsense’ About the Bidens Being Corrupt
A September 30, 2019 comment from Melvin that aged particularly badly was when the visibly frustrated anchor wailed that legitimate questions swirling around Hunter Biden’s suspicious foreign business dealings (for which President Joe Biden’s son is currently under federal criminal investigation) were nothing but “nonsense.”
Rally for Gun Rights Filled With ‘White Nationalists’
Melvin accused of falsely denigrating a peaceful demonstration by Second Amendment activists at Richmond, Virginia on 20 January 2020.
Dismissing Black Democrat Supporting Trump as ‘Paid Campaign Surrogate’
In a hostile July 29, 2020 exchange with Democrat Georgia State Representative Vernon Jones, who endorsed Donald Trump in that year’s presidential race, Melvin questioned the public official’s integrity and accused him of being a “paid campaign surrogate.”
Nancy Pelosi’s Lengthy, Uninterrupted infomerical
During an “interview” with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on September 14, 2020, Melvin only asked four questions and allowed the Democrat to speak for nearly 11 minutes out of the 12 and a half minute segment – an astonishing 85 percent of the air time.
Question Climate Radical: Is the Media Pushing Enough Environmental Propaganda?
Marking Earth Day on April 22, 2021, Melvin talked to a radical climate activist and wondered if the hysterical media were doing a good enough job of “sounding the alarm and raising awareness” about the issue.
Melvin concluded his statement on Thursday by telling the viewers: “I appreciate you seeing the value in journalism showcasing the plight of the least among us, simply asking questions and waiting for answers. We need it now perhaps more than we ever have.”
The evidence is clear, Melvin was not interested in being “fair” during his 10 years at MSNBC and was eager to offer his “opinion” on all manner of political topics. This retrospective focuses on his cable work, but his time at NBC showed the same left-wing slant. It will likely go on.
Melvin’s farewell spin was brought to viewers by E-Trade and Colonial Penn. These advertisers can be contacted to let them know your opinion about sponsoring this content.
Here is a transcript of Melvin’s March 31 sign-off:
11:00 AM ET
CRAIG MELVIN – Ten years seems long enough for a newscast. For me, that’s it. I’m stepping away from this hour on MSNBC. I’m not leaving NBC News. In fact, I’ll still be over at the Today show for three hours every morning, I’ll be criss-crossing the country to tell stories, doing Dateline, working on a host of other projects. However, I will be missing our daily time here.
This nearly decade-long stretch of hosting a cable news program has been a tremendous honor and I’m so very thankful for the opportunity to really have had a front row seat to so much history. Tumultuous elections, natural catastrophes, mass shootings and a pandemic are all examples of what can happen. Many of the stories that I have covered and many of my assignments with people I met through them have moved me in many ways. There are days when I feel sad, angered, and sometimes confused but also hopeful.
And I’ve tried to cover the news fairly and steer clear of inserting my opinion or perspective. We’ve tried to traffic in facts and truth and let you makeup your mind every day, and I’m very proud of that. We’ve gone out of our way to highlight, not merely the death, doom or destruction. We’ve tried to introduce you to ordinary people doing the extraordinary.
And before I go, I did want to take just a few moments to thank the amazing team of producer journalists who’ve put me on their shoulders for nearly a decade. The list is too long to mention by name but they know who they are and they know how much they’ve meant to me. Many of them have been my dear friends.
I did want to name check my executive producers over the years, though – Angie Dorr and Shirley Zilberstein and Matt Pitzer and Marty Hawse, who I’ve known nearly half my life now. And thank-you to Yvette miley for taking a risk on a South Carolina boy who was currently working in D.C. Also, thank you especially to Phil Griffon & Rashida. They are both very talented and have a great vision for what news can look like.
I wanted to thank the contributors, the experts, the panelists, the crews here in the studio and also our crews in the field, including our indefatigable correspondents – again, too numerous to mention – who’ve taken us along on campaign trails and done their level best to help us make sense of so much madness. Your tireless efforts to share stories about important issues, especially recently, have made it difficult for the comfortable to be comforted. You’ve risked so much to take us to the frontlines of war. We rely on you for your excellent reporting. Your work is outstanding.
(…)
I am grateful to you for inviting me into your homes and businesses every day for an hour. It was a pleasure to see you appreciate journalism that highlights the problems of the poorest among us. I also appreciated the willingness to ask questions and wait for the right answers. It is something we need now more than ever.
(…)