They find solace in the conversion of these conservatives. Between them, they will soon be holding down five hours of the network’s programming per day.Ī great number of liberals have become Wallace-Scarborough viewers, just as they have become Lincoln Project groupies. In the same vein, it’s worth noting that Wallace and Scarborough host the only multi-hour shows on the MSNBC weekday slate. And they have flocked to Wallace’s Deadline: White House, just as they have to Morning Joe - whose eponymous host Joe Scarborough falls in the same category as Wallace. Yet Resistance audiences have seemingly forgiven and forgotten. It insisted that the president should operate and be treated as a king. Whatever the Republican party is now, Nicolle Wallace helped shape it.Īs Columbia Journalism Review contributor Maria Bustillos put it in a recent column, Wallace served for an administration which “corrupt a number of the most sacred presidential powers. She spent nearly two years as communications director for the Bush White House, and worked on the 2008 campaign to make Sarah Palin vice president. Wallace is one of the biggest beneficiaries. Bush days – and given the born-agains a clean slate. Many liberals have happily erased the positions and actions of these self-proclaimed conservatives during the George W. The kind that’s turned one of the project’s founders, George Conway, into a folk hero on the Left. It’s the sort of commentary which birthed The Lincoln Project, and resulted in millions flowing into its coffers. Nicolle Wallace regularly traffics in a kind of punditry which has unmistakably struck a chord in the Trump age. It also signals an expansion of a certain-type of commentary which MSNBC is increasingly favoring - loud jeremiads about the current landscape from disaffected conservatives. timeslot, previously occupied by Chuck Todd’s MTP: Daily, is a clear indication that MSNBC did not trust anyone on its bench - already depleted following Joy Reid’s recent promotion to 7 p.m. 1 spot in total viewers, and is a competitive challenger to CNN’s supremacy in the most important category, the advertiser-coveted adults 25-54 demographic.īut the papering over of the 5 p.m. hour, Deadline: White House has recently held down the No. How else are viewers to interpret Wallace’s promotion?įrom a pure numbers standpoint, the move is completely justifiable. In the 4 p.m. But nowadays, the honchos at MSNBC seemingly just want more. It wasn’t long ago when a segment like the one with Stengel would have earned the host a lecture from standards and practices, and caused stomachs to churn in the executive offices. (It had been on from 4-5.) The move positions Wallace as one of the few multi-hour hosts in all of cable news, and establishes her as a top-tier player on MSNBC’s roster.
On Monday, MSNBC gave Nicolle Wallace a promotion.Īs part of a series of lineup changes, the network announced that it is expanding Deadline: White House to two hours.
That segment - which was flawless, in the host’s estimation - took place last Friday.
She assured her guest that not only had he aimed correctly at the target, he’d hit the bullseye. “I love it, Rick Stengel.”ĭespite Wallace’s stamp of approval, Stengel - a media veteran who’s logged scores of cable news hits over the years - appeared embarrassed that he’d let himself get so heated.īut Wallace wouldn’t hear of it. “Now you know why Rick Stengel was coveted at the highest levels of government,” Wallace said, smiling broadly. But the manner in which Wallace’s face lit up left the impression that she wished he had. Stengel did not actually utter that four-letter word starting with S.
“Where people around the world look at the United States and think, ‘This is a Goddamn s-show that these people don’t even know how to run a two-car funeral.'” “We’ve exploded the image of our own competency,” Stengel said. He used some colorful language to make his point. That’s the whole thing.Įnter Stengel - who was on to express dread about how the United States is being perceived abroad in the age of Trump. Disenchanted politicos - be they pundits or officeholders - drop by to vent about the state of affairs in President Donald Trump’s America to a host who is herself disillusioned. Seldom does the host stray from a formula which has borne fruit in the ratings. Since its May 2017 debut, the Wallace-helmed Deadline: White House has been nothing if not consistent. The song, on Nicolle Wallace’s daily MSNBC show, remains ever the same. Change the names, change the faces, change the date.
The guest was Rick Stengel - who served as a State Department official under former President Barack Obama.