During an appearance on HBO’s Real Time, Russell Brand shared his views on MSNBC and Fox News. Heilemann, who often appears on both NBC News and MSNBC, was discussing how Fox News hosts have been accused of deliberately reporting false election fraud conspiracies.
However, Brand pointed out the futility of attacking Fox News without acknowledging MSNBC’s participation in the same game, noting that both networks display biases and act as mouthpieces for their affiliate owners, BlackRock and Vanguard.
He suggested that instead of attacking other networks, efforts should be focused on improving MSNBC to make it a better and more effective platform.
Brand argued that Heilemann should be more open about MSNBC’s biases instead of solely attacking the conservative outlet.
He cited his own experience on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show, stating that no one understood the basic tenets of journalism, and no one was willing to stick up for genuine American heroes like Edward Snowden or talk about Julian Assange and what he’s suffered while trying to bring real journalism to the American people.
Heilemann tried to rebut some of Brand’s accusations, but Brand continued to argue for new political systems that genuinely represent ordinary Americans so that cultural differences can be overcome.
Brand did not elaborate on why he believed such incidents were comparable to Fox hosts repeatedly airing conspiracy theories about President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win over former President Donald Trump.
In a panel discussion, Bill Maher stayed uncharacteristically quiet while Brand attempted to come up with evidence to support his argument. He cited MSNBC’s coverage of alternative COVID-19 treatments as an example of the network’s failure to report the facts.
He described MSNBC’s putdown of Joe Rogan’s championing use of the drug Ivermectin as ‘ludicrous, outrageous,’ accusing the network of ‘deliberately referring to this as a horse medicine when they know this an effective medicine.’ Brand then brought up MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, who he claims told her audience: ‘If you take this vaccine, you’re not gonna get it.’
Heilemann batted away Brand’s examples as simply overblown conservative ‘talking points.’ Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch has admitted in a deposition that some of the station’s top shows ‘endorsed’ baseless allegations, which now form the basis of a $1.6 billion defamation suit that Dominion Voting Systems has brought against the conservative channel.
»Russell Brand critiques MSNBC journalist John Heilemann’s network standards«