In an essay for The American Conservative posted on Thursday, now-former MSNBC contributor Pat Buchanan announced that his days at the cable news network “had come to an end,” and criticized two organizations he said were making the push for his departure: Color of Change and the embattled left-wing media watchdog Media Matters.
And despite having a seemingly rough week — with allegations that could put its tax-exempt status in jeopardy, Media Matters isn’t holding back its public glee over Buchanan’s exit.
The news occupies the Media Matters website’s top spot at the moment.
And the organization’s twitter feed reflects that same joyous sentiment:
“Thanks to tens of thousands of MMFA members’ voices, also @ColorOfChange & @CREDOMobile — You all made Buchanan’s exit possible!”
Others associated with Media Matters have echoed that response as well. Media Matters Senior Fellow Eric Boehlert had this response:
i’m sure pat buchanan wishes @mmfa weren’t around and hadn’t cataloged his bigotry;http://on.wsj.com/x1dPVE #tcot
Todd Gregory, a web editor for the organization, reacted to a tweet about Buchanan’s essay:
Short. Sweet. 100 percent accurate. RT @pourmecoffee: Pat Buchanan calls the waaambulance:
Buchanan had specifically named Media Matters and Color of Change in his essay as part of a campaign launched to force him off the air.
“The calls for my firing began almost immediately with the Oct. 18 publication of ‘Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?’” Buchanan wrote. “A group called Color of Change, whose mission statement says that it ‘exists to strengthen Black America’s political voice,’ claimed that my book espouses a ‘white supremacist ideology.’ Color of Change took particular umbrage at the title of Chapter 4, ‘The End of White America.’ Media Matters parroted the party line: He has blasphemed!”
The Daily Caller has reported on the collaboration between Color of Change and Media Matters to target former Fox News host Glenn Beck’s advertisers. And Media Matters has steered a large sum of money to Color of Change’s parent group:
“Media Matters, according to its 2010 tax filing, gave a $200,000 grant to Citizen Engagement Laboratory, Color of Change’s parent group. The purpose of the grant, according to the document, was for a ‘campaign to expose Glenn Beck’s racist rhetoric in an effort to educate advertisers about the practices on his show.’”
After Beck’s departure from Fox News in 2011, Media Matters hosted a party at its offices. The organization has not responded to a question from The Daily Caller about whether a Buchanan departure party is in the works.
