President Trump took sharp aim at Comcast, claiming that the media giant — because of MSNBC‘s editorial content — should have to “pay vast sums of money for the damage they’ve done” to the U.S. Trump also railed against Comcast chief Brian Roberts, MSNBC’s Joy Reid and others in a post shared Sunday on social media.
In the post, Trump insulted Roberts as “Chairman of ‘Concast’” and a “lowlife.” The U.S. president also called Reid a “mentally obnoxious racist” who “should have been ‘canned’ long ago, along with everyone else who works” at MSNBC.
The trigger for Trump’s tirade was the news that Comcast-owned MSNBC is removing Reid and Alex Wagner from its primetime lineup.
“This whole corrupt operation is nothing more than an illegal arm of the Democrat Party,” Trump, referring to MSNBC, wrote in a post on Truth Social on Sunday night. “They should be forced to pay vast sums of money for the damage they’ve done to our Country. Fake News is an UNPARDONABLE SIN!”
It is unclear who or what Trump is suggesting Comcast be forced to pay — or what authority exists for demanding such payment.
Comcast did not immediately provide comment on Trump’s rant.
In a separate broadside launched at Comcast and NBCUniversal, Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed FCC chairman, this month notified Roberts that the agency’s Enforcement Bureau was opening an investigation into the company over diversity, equity and inclusion practices. Carr said he was “concerned” that Comcast and NBCU are “promoting invidious forms of DEI that do not comply with FCC regulations & civil rights laws.” Comcast, in response, said it would cooperate with the FCC probe and that, “For decades, our company has been built on a foundation of integrity and respect for all of our employees and customers.”
Trump has long had a contentious relationship with the media — but he’s stepped up his attacks in recent months.
Trump sued CBS News over a “60 Minutes” interview with former VP Kamala Harris that aired Oct. 7, alleging the news program deceptively edited the video. Earlier this month he amended his lawsuit against CBS to demand damages of $20 billion. Last year Trump sued ABC News and George Stephanopoulos after the anchor inaccurately stated on-air that Trump had been found liable for rape; in December, Disney and ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward a Trump presidential foundation and museum.
Meanwhile, the Trump White House has banned the Associated Press from access to the Oval Office and Air Force One because the AP is referring to the Gulf of Mexico by that name (rather than using the Trump-decreed Gulf of America). The AP, citing the First Amendment, sued to force the White House to rescind the ban.
Here is Trump’s unedited comment about Comcast and MSNBC shared Sunday on Truth Social, the Twitter-style social network operated by his company Trump Media & Technology Group:
Lowlife Chairman of “Concast,” Brian Roberts, the owner of Ratings Challenged NBC and MSDNC, has finally gotten the nerve up to fire one of the least talented people in television, the mentally obnoxious racist, Joy Reid. Based on her ratings, which were virtually non-existent, she should have been “canned” long ago, along with everyone else who works there. Also thrown out was Alex Wagner, the sub on the seriously failing Rachel Maddow show. Rachel rarely shows up because she knows there’s nobody watching, and she also knows that she’s got less television persona than virtually anyone on television except, perhaps, Joy Reid. Then there’s, of course, the LOW IQ Con Man, Al Sharpton, who has, perhaps, the lowest TV ratings in the history of television. What is he doing to Brian Roberts to stay on the air? This whole corrupt operation is nothing more than an illegal arm of the Democrat Party. They should be forced to pay vast sums of money for the damage they’ve done to our Country. Fake News is an UNPARDONABLE SIN!
