Ronan Farrow’s former network, MSNBC gives his New Yorker scoop the shaft in Friday news coverage, with virtually no mention throughout the day
Morning Joe gave @RonanFarrow story a mention at 7:47 a.m and promised more coverage on MSNBC throughout the day — network has totally ignored since then, per TVeyes search pic.twitter.com/VnzGN3sOvv — Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) February 16,2018
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Friday, co-host Mika Brzezinski teased a New Yorker exposé by former network star Ronan Farrow in which former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal said she had a nine-month affair with Donald Trump and that American Media Inc. paid her for the story but never published it.
“The article tells of ‘one woman’s account of clandestine meetings, financial transactions and legal pacts designed to hide an extramarital affair,’” said Brzezinski. “We’ll be following up on his reporting here on ‘Morning Joe’ and MSNBC will have coverage on this story throughout the day.”
But that promise was fake news. “Morning Joe” did not revisit the story later in the program — and the network itself hadn’t touched it through roughly 5 p.m. ET, according to the television monitoring service TVeyes.
Also Read: Ex-Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal Says She Had 9-Month Affair With Trump – And Deal to Keep Quiet
It’s unclear why “Morning Joe” abandoned the story or why it didn’t make air again on Friday. An MSNBC spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
Late Friday afternoon, after TheWrap had contacted MSNBC for this story, “Deadline: White House” host Nicolle Wallace did briefly mention McDougal — as well as another Trump accuser, former porn star Stormy Daniels — but without offering detail or naming the New Yorker or Farrow.
The piece received significantly more coverage at CNN, with mentions on “The Lead With Jake Tapper,” “At This Hour With Kate Bolduan,” “CNN Newsroom With Brooke Baldwin,” and “New Day.”
Fox News also mostly ignored the story on its airwaves, with just one mention, per TVeyes, on “Fox & Friends.”
Also Read: 7 Biggest Shockers in Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker Story About Trump and Karen McDougal
Ronan Farrow was once a star on MSNBC, but his relationship with the channel noticeably soured after his first New Yorker story last October detailing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct by Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein.
Farrow had initially prepared the piece to run on NBC and the former primetime host had completed months of research by the time the network told him to abandon the project.
Farrow ultimately shopped the piece to the New Yorker, which published the article widely credited with helping to ignite the #MeToo movement.
Also Read: Ronan Farrow on Enquirer’s Ties to Trump: ‘They Can Hold This Story Over the President’
His latest New Yorker scoop, published early Friday morning, detailed McDougal’s claims of an extramarital affair with Trump roughly two years into his marriage with third wife Melania Trump (and coinciding with the time Daniels has said she was seeing the then-mogul and reality TV Star).
Through a White House spokesperson, Trump has denied having an affair with McDougal.
McDougal also said National Enquirer owner AMI paid her $150,000 in August 2016 for exclusive rights to her story but never published it; AMI CEO David Pecker has described himself a good friend of the president’s.
16 ‘Morning Joe’ Trump Insults That Got Personal, From ‘Schmuck’ to ‘Jackass’ (Photos)
President Trump recently received a ton of criticism for sending out a pair of tweets about MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” hosts “Psycho” Joe Scarborough and “low I. Q. Crazy” Mika Brzezinski.
“She was bleeding badly from a face-lift,” he wrote of an encounter with Brzezinski he claims he had in Florida weeks before his inauguration. TheWrap
While nothing can justify the president mocking a woman’s appearance, the “Morning Joe” duo have been attacking Trump for months.
Check out 16 recent times the MSNBC stars said something that Trump could have taken personally. MSNBC
They compared him to Kim Jong-un
“This is unprecedented, to have a president who behaves this way,” Brzezinski said on June 23. “It does feel like a developing dictatorship.”
Also Read: ‘Morning Joe’ on Trump Administration: Feels Like a ‘Developing Dictatorship’ (Video) Getty
Brzezinski said Trump’s likes make her “uncomfortable”
“It’s so uncomfortable to see a president… lies, after lies, after lies from the president of the Unites States,” Brzezinski said on June 22.
Also Read: ‘Morning Joe’: Mika Brzezinski Says Trump’s Lies Make Her ‘Uncomfortable’ (Video) Getty
Guest Donny Deutsch unloaded on Trump’s appearance
Deutsch defended Brzezinski on June 30 following Donald Trump’s attacks on her, calling the president “physically disgusting to look at.”
Deutsch continued: “Enough is enough with this disgusting vulgar man and to talk about women that way, and the irony is you physically look like you do, beyond the stupidity of it. You are a pig.”
Also Read: ‘Morning Joe’ Guest Donny Deutsch Unloads on Trump: ‘He’s Physically Disgusting to Look At’ (Video) Getty
Brzezinski said what Bill Clinton was to sex, Trump is to “decency”
“What Bill Clinton did to the issue of sex to an entire generation, I believe this president is doing on issues of decency, on issues of conspiracy theories, on issues of fake news,” Brzezinski said in June 15. “I think it’s that simple and we’re desensitized if we even argue it.”
Also Read: ‘Morning Joe’: Mika Brzezinski Says What Bill Clinton Was to Sex, Trump Is to ‘Decency’ (Video) MSNBC
They claim the administration lacks “real men”
“If the president seems delusional about his accomplishments, you can point no further than that room,” Brzezinski said in June 14. “There are no real men in the inner circle of the White House… none at all.”
Also Read: ‘Morning Joe’: Mika Brzezinski Says ‘There Are No Real Men’ on Trump’s Team (Video) Getty
Scarborough slammed Trump’s cabinet meeting
After Trump staffers praised the president during a cabinet meeting, Scarborough said on June 13 it “was the most sick, shameful, pathetic, un-American, autocratic display.”
He continued: “I will tell you if I were ever in meeting and people did that to me, I would say shut up and I would fire you.”
Also Read: ‘Morning Joe’ Rips Trump’s ‘Sick, Shameful, Pathetic, Un-American’ Cabinet Meeting (Video) NBC
Brzezinski challenged Trump’s mental health
Brzezinski called President Trump a “narcissist” and said it’s possible that he’s “mentally ill in a way” on June 8.
She continued: “I said it months ago… he’s not well. At the very least he’s not well and he’s so narcissistic that he does not believe the rules apply to him.”
Also Read: ‘Morning Joe’: Mika Brzezinski Rips Trump’s Mental Health, Joe Scarborough Wants None of It (Video) Getty
Scarborough called Trump a “schmuck”
“Donald Trump, again, being a schmuck, thinking he can buy people’s integrity by inviting them over to the White House and wowing them,” Scarborough said on June 7 when discussing a dinner party at the White House. “That’s how he thinks. I know that first hand.”
Also Read: ‘Morning Joe’ Calls Trump a ‘Schmuck’: ‘I Know That First Hand’ (Video) NBCNBC
Scarborough said Trump “is not a sane, rational human being”
“If any CEO, in a Fortune 500 company, was behaving this way, he or she would be removed immediately… they would take him out, he would have psychiatric evaluation and he would no longer be the CEO,” Scarborough said on June 6.
Also Read: ‘Morning Joe’: If Trump Were CEO He’d Be ‘Removed Immediately’ For ‘Psychiatric Evaluation’ (Video) NBC
Scarborough refers to “President Bannon”
Scarborough blasted “President Bannon” on June 2 for the U. S. withdrawal from the Paris Accord on climate change — using the trolling phrase seven times in half a minute.
