Conservative Group Takes Page From Liberals and Targets Advertisers on MSNBC

Fresh off the fiasco regarding Sean Hannity and USAA, and that company’s pull of ad spots from the Fox News show due to coverage that leftists didn’t like, a conservative group has turned tables and launched a campaign to do the same to MSNBC and CNN advertisers.

Media Research Center’s Brent Bozell said in a statement: “Today we are putting ten shows and their major corporate sponsors on notice that we are watching their every move.”

The messaging comes just after USAA pulled ads from Hannity’s top-ranked Fox show becuase of complants about his queries into the mysterious death of a Democratical National Committee official who’s been tied, in some circles at least, to WikiLeaks information painting Hillary Clinton in a poor light.

USAA stopped advertising on Hannity’s Fox segment, in response to pressures from the left. Conservative outcry ensued, however, in large part because Hannity is a known supporter of veterans’ rights and USAA’s entire mission is to support the veterans and military.

Shortly after, USAA turned back its decision and resumed advertising on Hannity’s show. But the damage was done.

As the Washington Examiner reported:

“The targeted shows on MSNBC are “Politics Nation with Al Sharpton,” “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” “All In With Chris Hayes,” “The Rachel Maddow Show,” “The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell,” and “AM Joy.”

“MRC also hits CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” “CNN Tonight With Don Lemon,” “Reliable Sources,” and “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”

“The White House and GOP have been under fire on the shows, and the Republican National Committee Wednesday singled out one MSNBC show not on the MRC list: “Morning Joe.”

“‘If there is a leader of the pack for the worst case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, look no further than MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe,” said Michael Reed, RNC’s research director.

“The group listed the advertisers of each show on its website. ‘We will be publicly listing the advertisers of these programs and asking them to defend their decision to continue airing ads on these shows. Every time one of their on-air personalities go beyond political commentary and engage in smear and hate, we are going to unleash an army of activists to contact these advertisers by phone and through social media to ask them why they are advertising on programs that are so biased, repulsive and morally bankrupt,’ said Bozell.

“Bozell said, ‘We know the inside-outside game that radical organizations are playing with their leftist allies in the ‘news’ media. The radical left’s effort to silence conservative media by targeting their advertisers with coordinated smear campaigns has gone unanswered, but today is the day the conservative movement fights back, but with a big difference: We’ll tell the truth. And we’ll take no prisoners.

“‘Every network and cable news channel is today on notice that the MRC will be closely monitoring their leftist opinion programs and informing their advertisers and the American public when these programs and hosts go beyond political commentary and engage in smear, hate and political extremism. The difference between our effort and what the left is engaged in is that we will demonstrate to the advertisers of these programs how the hosts of these shows are not simply engaged in disagreeable political discussion but rather outright hate and personal character assassination.’”