In 2014 MSNBC Host Krystal Ball was a Hillary Clinton fan but did not think that she should run for president in the 2016 election. She expressed this view on air in a monologue. After she had ripped Hillary, Ball said she was called into the office and told to get commentary on Hillary Clinton approved by the network president.
Ball is no longer with MSNBC, but the fact that she was told how to express her commentary speaks volumes about the network that has fallen behind in the cable news ratings.
Now revealing that situation in a podcast with Joe Rogan, Ball recently said that the left-wing network told her to stifle any criticism of Clinton, Trending Politics reports. TP notes that Ball’s story is a “fascinating insight into the workings of MSNBC, which resembles less a “news network” than a DNC talking points shop”.
“I did a monologue when Hillary Clinton was building up to run for president,” Ball said. “I did this whole thing that was like, ‘She sold out to Wall Street. People are gonna hate this lady. She’s like the terrible candidate for the moment. Please don’t run’.” Ball continued, “Afterwards, I get pulled into an office and you know, ‘Great monologue, everything’s fine. But next time you do any commentary on Hillary Clinton, it has to get approved by the President of the network,’” she said.
Former MSNBC host Krystal Ball to Joe Rogan on how MSNBC tried to control her coverage of Hillary Clinton in 2014:
🚨Bombshell insight into NBC News🚨
Former MSNBC host Krystal Ball to Joe Rogan on how MSNBC tried to control her coverage of Hillary Clinton in 2014:
"I did a monologue when Hillary Clinton was building up to run for president… I did this whole thing that was like, 'She sold… https://t.co/x5E0EeHAuN pic.twitter.com/Rfqi3Tnh0A
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) February 12, 2023
Ball’s piece on why she admired Clinton but did not think she was the president that America needed at that time is still up on MSNBC’s website, Trending Politics reports, saying in part:
“I deeply admire and respect Hillary Clinton. I think she is a great intellect with great fortitude,” the article says. “I think she was a strong secretary of state and a hardworking and effective senator. But I have come to a difficult realization: I don’t want Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016. I hope she does not run, she is not the right person for this moment,” the article adds.
“Back in 2008, when all my peers were jumping on the Barack Obama bandwagon, I backed Clinton,” she went on. “The country was reeling from a disastrous eight years under President George W. Bush. We were desperate for competence after his incompetence; for respect for government after his disdain. We needed, in my view, a capable hand,” she added. “She was well positioned to manage the end of two wars and to regain the international respect that had been lost during the Bush presidency. Clinton was a fantastic fit for that moment but that moment has passed,” she continued.
“Now, we are in a moment of existential crisis as a country. As we recover slowly from the Great Recession, we’ve discovered that we don’t much like what we see. Only 28% of Americans say the country is headed in the right direction. Some 67% are dissatisfied with the wealth distribution in this country,” she said. “And as corporate profits soar to new heights, working folks get the shaft sharing in virtually none of the gains of the recovery,” she continued. “In fact, 95% of the income gains over the recovery years have gone to the top 1% of income earners.”
“It is clear now that we have two economies: one for a thin slice of educated elite and one for everyone else. That is the moment we are in now. So I ask you, does Hillary Clinton sound to you like the right person for this moment?” she asked. “In a time when corporations have hijacked our politics enabling them to reap all the profit without feeling any compunction to do right by their workers, is someone who sat on the rabidly anti-union board of Walmart for six years the right person to restore worker’s rights?” she asked again.
Ball continued with her well thought our plea:
“Of course, it was her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who did much of the deregulating that got us into trouble including ending the Glass-Steagall prohibitions on mixing traditional banking with speculative investment banking,” she noted. “More to the point though, in a time when we badly need to be inspired, rallied, and made to believe that America can once again be true to the American dream, we desperately need someone who is mission driven,” she continued. “We need someone who is clearly passionate, who is living and breathing and feeling in their bones the plight of the worker and the middle class, and who is unafraid to stand up to the Wall Street titans. That person is not Hillary Clinton. It is Elizabeth Warren,” she added.
“Despite all her talents, Clinton is not the woman to address the deep inequality, corporate political capture, and middle class rot afflicting our country. So although I deeply admire and respect Secretary Clinton, I must say: Don’t run Hillary. Don’t run,” she wrote.
