by Jon Dougherty at conservativebrief.com
A former MSNBC host made a stunning admission about the network and her ability to criticize two-time failed Democratic presidential candidate and former first lady Hillary Clinton.
Krystal Ball, herself a one-time Democratic congressional candidate from Virginia, served as co-host of “The Cycle” from 2012 to 2015 on the left-wing Comcast-owned network. In an interview with top podcaster Joe Rogan, Ball, 41, recounted a 2014 monologue when she urged then U.S. Sen. Clinton (N.Y.) not to try for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
“I did this whole thing that was like, ‘She sold out to Wall Street. People are gonna hate this lady. She’s like the terrible candidate for the moment. Please don’t run,’” Ball said during an appearance last week on “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
“I was allowed to say it,” she said, adding: “I deliver my thing. I did it exactly how I wanted to do it.”
But her advice for the eventual nominee, who then lost to Donald Trump, did not go over well with Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC at the time, the New York Post reported.
“Afterwards, I get pulled into an office and you know, ‘Great monologue, everything’s fine. But next time you do any commentary on Hillary Clinton, it has to get approved by the President of the network,’” Ball told Rogan.
Ball went on to say that most cable news hosts are not necessarily talented, but they are more often chosen because they “are reliable purveyors of whatever” narrative the network wants to push.
The Post noted further:
Ball had gained national infamy in 2010 while running for office after bloggers published leaked photos showing her posing with a sex toy while at a party when she was in her early 20s. Since leaving MSNBC, the Democrat formed a PAC backing progressive candidates and launched the podcast “Breaking Points with Saagar Enjeti,” with whom she appeared on Rogan’s show.
“Listen, I’m a human being,” she added. “I’m sure I responded to the incentives of that system, like, ‘God, I don’t want to get in trouble with the boss.’”
“For sure,” Rogan responded.
“That’s the way that it works [in cable news],” she added. “Oftentimes, people [who work at the network] know where the boundaries are. They know what they’re allowed to say. So they don’t need that direct intervention of censorship.”
The former host noted further that most people who work in cable news “aren’t really there because they’re talented.”
“They’re there because they are reliable purveyors of whatever it is that that network wants to purvey,” Ball said. “That’s ultimately why they get the job, and they understand the parameters of the task.”