The Last Word

Veteran journalist Jeff Greenfield joined host Lawrence O’Donnell on Thursday’s edition of MSNBC’s The Last Word for some old-fashioned liberal punditry and expressed hope that the growing support for socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders could signal the “healthy” birth of “a socialist wing of the Democratic Party...that Europeans would recognize as a left wing.”

During a segment on MSNBC’s The Last Word late Thursday, all three liberal panelists spouted off on the ability of the Soviet Union to follow treaties (in context of the Iran deal), comparing the Iran nuclear agreement to Richard Nixon’s China visit, and lamenting the “partisan...political climate” Republicans have caused the deal to be implemented under. 

During a discussion on the Thursday edition of MSNBC’s The Last Word, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof briefly admitted that gun control would not have stopped the shooter who shot dead two local news reporters in Roanoke, Virginia on Wednesday, but continued to nonetheless argue that more gun restrictions are needed. He let slip that “you know, it may well be that no measure could have…

During a segment on Thursday’s The Last Word about Jimmy Carter’s cancer diagnosis, MSNBC national correspondent Joy Reid complained that voters rejected “Carter’s decency and goodness” in the 1980 presidential election in favor of the “bluster” possessed by “cowboy” Ronald Reagan. 

Appearing on MSNBC’s Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on Monday, the New York Times’ Josh Barro dismissed controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton’s private e-mail server as “all just background noise.” He contended: "The Clintons have been embroiled in scandal longer than I have been alive. And at this point it's all just background noise. Everybody’s formulated an opinion about whether they…

On Monday’s Last Word, Lawrence O’Donnell started his program with a panel discussing Mike Huckabee’s controversial comments about the Iran deal. Daily Beast columnist and MSNBC contributor Jonathan Alter had harsh words for the Republicans, claiming their rhetoric is far worse when compared to the Democrats: “[T]here's a vileness gap that is developing between our political parties.” The ex-…

On Wednesday night, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell began his show by cheering President Obama’s news conference performance and declared he “demonstrated more confidence at the podium than any president in the history of televised presidential press conferences, more even than Kennedy.” 

On Wednesday afternoon, MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell slammed neoconservatives who voiced their opposition to President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Appearing on MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts, O'Donnell lashed out at opponents of the deal: “Well, look, they are on a straight line of being wrong about every single thing that's come up in the 21st century in foreign policy.”

Monday night, Lawrence O’Donnell gushed over Bernie Sanders’ authenticity and the consistently large crowds he has acquired in his speeches across the country. The July 6 edition of The Last Word featured a panel discussion which emphasized that the Vermont senator’s socialism isn't that far outside the mainstream.

During a panel discussion on racism in America on MSNBC’s Last Word w/ Lawrence O’Donnell Monday night, Mark Thompson, a host on SIRIUS XM, argued that “voter suppression” is a new and “more sophisticated form of lynching” taking place in America today. 

Appearing on the Thursday edition of MSNBC’s The Last Word, The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel suggested that money in politics is discriminatory toward African-Americans: “Fifty years ago, African-Americans were discriminated against by poll taxes, literacy tests. Today, the skyrocketing costs of campaigns, including the super PACs you mentioned, these billionaires, have made everyday Americans…

Appearing on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on Wednesday night, Nina Burleigh of Newsweek crudely joked that Republicans who defended Pence and Indiana’s Religious Freedom Act were experiencing “premature intolerance ejaculation.” 

As NewsBusters has often reported, MSNBC's line-up has led the cable news channel to a freefall in the ratings, with Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik blasting the schedule as “unwatchable” and “24 hours a day of mess.” In an article posted on Thursday, Politico columnist Dylan Byers reported that the channel's daytime year-to-date viewership “is down 21 percent overall and 41 percent in…

On Monday night, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell devoted his nightly “rewrite” segment to challenging former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s claim that he loves America. During his lengthy diatribe, the MSNBC host not only suggested that “when Rudy Giuliani talks about love, he has, and we have, no idea what he’s talking about” and “love of country isn’t easily defined and might not even be…