Rachel Maddow's claim that MSNBC is "not a political operation" was thoroughly debunked Sunday by the conservative website Johnny Dollar's Place.
As NewsBusters previously reported, Maddow on Friday defended Keith Olbermann's suspension for violating NBC's campaign finance rules by attacking Fox News hosts for raising money for Republicans. In the segment, she argued that aside from the "Countdown" host's indiscretion, MSNBCers don't engage in such activity.
As the following video marvelously demonstrates, Democrat candidates in recent months went on MSNBC programs such as "Hardball," "The Ed Show," "Countdown," and "The Rachel Maddow Show" to raise money for themselves (video follows with commentary):
For the record, here's what Maddow said Friday:
Hosts on FOX raise money on the air for Republican candidates. They endorse them explicitly. They use their FOX News profile to headline fundraisers. Heck, there are multiple people being paid by FOX News now to essentially run for office as Republican candidates. If you count not just their hosts but their contributors, you are looking at a significant portion of the whole lineup of Republican presidential contenders for 2012. They can do that because there`s no rule against that at FOX. They run as a political operation. We`re not.
Yes, Keith is a liberal, and so am I. And there are other people on this network whose political views are shared openly with you, our beloved viewers, but we are not a political operation. Fox is. We are a news operation, and the rules around here are a part of how you know that.
You were saying, Rach?
Readers are encouraged to review Johnny Dollar's entire piece on this issue for more details concerning MSNBC's advocacy for Democrat candidates.
