All Trump, all the time? Former president's legal problems a boon to MSNBC
Donald Trump's legal problems may be a headache for the former president, but they are proving a boon to MSNBC
NEW YORK — During a recent “Morning Joe” discussion of another development in the four indictments of former President Donald Trump, NBC News reporter Ken Dilanian predicted, “we are in for a real show next year.”
MSNBC is not just counting on that to be true. The network is built around it.
The news outlet is hyper-focused on Trump's legal jeopardy, with a team of experts ready to dissect every ruling, every filing, every comment. The approach has seen success — even with some Republicans — with potential for more and the obvious questions of what happens when the bubble bursts.
“MSNBC has pretty well-established themselves as the leading anti-Trump network, certainly of late,” said Jon Klein, a former CNN president and news analyst. “Once you've chosen your lane, you may as well go for it.”
Certainly, the recipient of its attention has noticed.
In a late September post on Truth Social, Trump complained about “one-sided and vicious coverage” on NBC News and, particularly, MSNBC. He said they should be investigated for “country-threatening treason” and said MSNBC’s endless coverage of Russia and “other things” amounted to a campaign contribution to Democrats.
The network would not make anyone available to talk about its strategy. MSNBC's prime-time viewership was up slightly over last year in the third quarter, while CNN and Fox News Channel saw double-digit declines, according to the Nielsen company. So far this year, Fox has averaged 2.18 million viewers, MSNBC 1.51 million and CNN 639,000.
Without making clear how many of its viewers are Republicans, MSNBC said its GOP audience increased 24% this spring,
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