Entertainment

Scarborough disputes MSNBC host chosen for ‘diversity reasons’

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
Font Size:

Joe Scarborough is pushing back against The Daily Caller’s report this week that MSNBC is replacing the anchor of the lead-in to “Morning Joe” with an openly-gay host because the network wants the franchise to be seen as more “diverse.”

TheDC broke the news Thursday that MSNBC planned to replace “Way Too Early” host Brian Shactman with anchor Thomas Roberts, who is married to a man and has become known recently for the emphasis he places on gay issues.

On Friday, MSNBC confirmed the change of hosts. But in a statement, Scarborough disputed that Roberts was chosen for “diversity reasons,” which is how TheDC’s source inside MSNBC characterized the change.

“Despite internet speculation, he was chosen based strictly on merit and not politically correct considerations,” Scarborough said.

“Way Too Early” airs every weekday morning before “Morning Joe” — the show hosted by Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

“Mika and I were excited to have Brian as host of ‘Way Too Early’ last year because of our admiration for him,” Scarborough said of Shactman. “We will miss him but know Thomas will do a great job as well. Mika and I worked with Thomas in Oklahoma City after last spring’s tornado and became fans.”

Still, MSNBC president Phil Griffin praised Roberts for the brand he has developed for himself, which has become synonymous with Roberts’ pro-gay advocacy journalism.

Officially announcing the change on Friday, Griffin said, “Thomas’ unique personality and point of view are just the right mix to lead-in to ‘Morning Joe.'”

“Thomas has really found his voice in the past year and joining the ‘Morning Joe’ table gives him the opportunity to further develop it,” Griffin said.

Roberts has been outspoken during controversies involving gay issues. Most recently, he took a stand against the comments made by “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson. During the 2012 media storm over comments the leader of Chick-Fil-A said about gays, Roberts said pro-gay patrons who still go to the restaurant amount to a “chicken-eating Judas.”

In 2011, Roberts accused Republican Michele Bachmann of wanting to “extinguish” gays. Last month, he said that “many people consider President Obama to be the first gay president.”

Roberts will host “Way Too Early” from 5:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. starting Jan. 13. He will also contribute to “Morning Joe” from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

“I am flattered to join this morning family,” Roberts said Friday.

Shactman, a former CNBC and sports reporter, said he decided over the last several months in discussions with Griffin that, “I don’t want politics to be my only focus.”

“I want to continue to branch out, making sure my career is not solely defined by that,” Shactman said, explaining he will announce his “next venture in the very near future.”

Roberts hosted the daytime “MSNBC Live” at 11 a.m. since 2010. The network said it will announce a new host for that show “in the coming weeks.”

Follow Alex on Twitter

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel