After facing a backlash for pulling advertisements from Fox News’ host Sean Hannity’s show, USAA will no longer run ads on liberal MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s show.
The insurance company originally claimed that it would no longer run ads on “Hannity” because of a company policy against airing ads on “opinion shows.” The Media Research Center then revealed that the company had placed ads on MSNBC shows hosted by Maddow, Chris Hayes and Lawrence O’Donnell, all of whom present the news from a liberal viewpoint. (RELATED: USAA’s Excuse For Pulling Ads From ‘Hannity’ Is Full Of Holes)
USAA told ABC News that it aired ads on the three shows by accident, and will take steps to ensure that that doesn’t happen again in the future. That announcement followed USAA members flooding the company’s Facebook page with angry comments. Many commenters said they would take their business elsewhere in retaliation for USAA pulling the ads.
USAA was one of several companies to pull ads from Hannity’s show following a public pressure campaign kickstarted by left-wing nonprofit Media Matter. The campaign to defund “Hannity” came after the Fox News host aired a conspiracy theory related to the death of DNC staffer Seth Rich. (RELATED: Media Matters Targets Hannity Advertisers)
The campaign to defund Hannity resembled Media Matters’ successful campaign to take down then-Fox News host Bill O’Reilly in relation to sexual harassment allegations against him.
“Look, this was a hit. And in the weeks to come, we’re going to be able to explain some of it,” O’Reilly said of his firing earlier this month. “And it has to do with destroying voices that the far left and the organized left wing cabal doesn’t like.”