MSNBC Guest Says Network Hosts Routinely Tell Him They're 'Sick of Our Viewers' (Audio)

Matt Welch, an editor-at-large at the libertarian magazine Reason, said MSNBC hosts have routinely complained to him about their viewers when he has been a guest on the network.

Welch said on Thursday’s episode of his podcast “The Fifth Column,” that hosts have told him during commercial breaks that they were fed up with complaints they get from viewers whenever they ask Democrats tough questions or engage in debate with “the bad people.” Welch said:

I’m starting to hear more and more — and this happened this week and it happened probably every week that I’ve been on MSNBC recently — in commercial breaks the hosts lean over and say “God I’m sick of our viewers. Not sick of our viewers but I’m tired of getting dragged on Twitter every time I ask a Democrat a tough question. And I am also tired of people who are intolerant of there even being questions asked to the bad people.”

You can listen to the moment yourself, starting around the 24-minute mark, above.

Also Read: Rosie O'Donnell Calls Out 'Morning Joe' for Allowing Trump to Trash Her in 2007

Welch is indeed a regular on MSNBC, and his most recent appearance was a 9 a.m. hit with Stephanie Ruhle on Friday. A rep for MSNBC declined to comment.

Welch, however, told TheWrap that he may have been too harsh in his initial clarification, though his broader point was accurate.

“Oh, I think ‘sick’ of their audiences is too strong,” he said. “[They] have said things to me complaining about the pushback they’ve gotten on Twitter from viewers who get mad when they cross-examine Democrats too strong or are too nice to non-Democrats is more accurate.”

He declined to name which hosts he said had complained to him.

MSNBC hosts have previously made news for colorful hot-mic chatter, or when they thought the cameras weren’t rolling.

In 2016, Mika Brzezinski was caught on mic seeming to agree with Donald Trump not to ask him questions that were “too hard.” (Brzezinski later denied she was speaking to Trump in the audio.) And last September, network host Lawrence O’Donnell melted down over an earpiece malfunction in video that swiftly went viral.

Mike Cernovich, a Timeline: From Choking Advice to Pizzagate to Firings (Photos)

Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.
Advice on Choking Women

Before gaining fame as a Trump superfan, Cernovich got his start in the men's rights and pick-up artist community. His advice column, published on his blog "Danger and Play," included suggestions on the proper way to "choke" women during sex. This entry from December 2011 has since been deleted: "Choking works because it’s a show of dominance. Women only want to have consensual sex with men they know could rape them."
Pizzagate

Cernovich first came to wide public attention over his promotion of a conspiracy theory during the 2016 election that suggested that a pedophile ring was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. The story was bunk, and Cernovich has moved to distance himself from Pizzagate.
Will Sommer/Twitter
John Conyers

Cernovich's biggest score of all probably wasn't James Gunn, but John Conyers. A tip provided by Cernovich to BuzzFeed about accusations of sexual misconduct forced the Democrat to resign his seat in disgrace in December 2017.
Getty Images
Sam Seder

Mike Cernovich targeted the MSNBC contributor over a years-old joke about his daughter being raped. MSNBC dropped Seder in December 2017, but reinstated him after a public backlash.
MSNBC
Sopan Deb

Cernovich went after New York Times reporter Sopan Deb in March 2017 over a tweeted pun about the rapper Bow Wow. The incident earned Deb an official rebuke from the Times' then-public editor, Liz Spayd.
Josh Barro

In November 2017, Cernovich demanded an apology from Josh Barro after the Business Insider Senior Editor made fun of his lisp. Barro swiftly retreated.
Twitter
Perry Fein

In June 2018, Los Angeles Times freelancer Perry Fein slipped into Cernovich's DMs and wished harm upon him. His relationship with the newspaper was over just hours later.
Los Angeles Times Media Group
James Gunn

Last week, Cernovich helped lead an online campaign highlighting old tweets in which Gunn joked about rape about pedophilia. Gunn offered an apology, but was dropped by Disney from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise.
Getty Images
Cheri Jacobus

Before the James Gunn situation, Cernovich also led a brief and successful campaign to pressure USA Today to drop columnist Cheri Jacobus. The decision from the paper came after Jacobus' bizarre comments about convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Michael Ian Black

Cernovich has trained his fire on comedian Michael Ian Black, who has said several times on Twitter that his tweets about pedophilia were only jokes.
YouTube
Dan Harmon

Fresh off his victory in ousting Gunn from "Guardians of the Galaxy," Cernovich forced "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon and his employers at Adult Swim to apologize over an old sketch that featured Harmon graphically simulating the rape of a baby. (The sketch used a doll, not an actual baby.)
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The right-wing provocateur has become a thorn to liberals online

Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.

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Mike Cernovich, a Timeline: From Choking Advice to Pizzagate to Firings (Photos)

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