From the looks of it, MSNBC broke up with Michael Avenatti and probably won’t be calling him again anytime soon.
The steamy love affair appeared to end Thursday when Avenatti, the former media darling and anti-Trump attorney who represented porn star Stormy Daniels, was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He was found guilty of attempting to extort $25 million from Nike in February 2020. Avenatti may need to settle into his new jail cell as he still faces fraud and tax evasion charges in California.
MSNBC must be bitter about the breakup as they spent less than two minutes covering Avenatti’s sentencing on Friday, Fox News reported, citing Grabien transcripts.
Only two MSNBC programs bothered to mention Avenatti’s sentencing, “Way Too Early with Kasie Hunt,” and “Morning Joe.” The subject was not mentioned again after 6:15 am ET.
The most-watched primetime programs on the peacock network completely avoided mentioning Avenatti altogether, though they had a total of 6 hours between Thursday and Friday to do so.
Before his sentencing, the media fell over themselves fawning over Avenatti. “He’s out there saving the country,” said one talking head. Others called him a “rock star” and likening him to the “Holy Spirit,” and saying that he “was at all places at all times.”
He was indeed on MSNBC practically “all the time.” According to a study from NewsBusters, MSNBC invited him on-air an astounding 254 times in a single year.
pic.twitter.com/gTU0MofiYu https://t.co/gOoPM6IX0D
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 17, 2021
The praise often focused on the liberal attorney’s anti-Trump rhetoric.
“I owe Michael Avenatti an apology,” MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle said. “I’ve been saying, ‘Enough already, Michael! I’ve seen you everywhere! What do you have left to say?’ I was wrong, brother. You have a lot to say.”
“The Democrats can learn something from you. You are messing with Trump a lot more than they are,” Ruhle added.
MSNBC contributor Eddie Glaude Jr. called Avenatti the “savior of the republic” and a “beast.”
“Deadline: White House” anchor Nicolle Wallace promoted Avenatti’s as a possible contender for the presidency and said to a panel, “If [Democrats] decide that they value a fighter most, people would be foolish to underestimate Michael Avenatti.”
“Last Word” host Lawrence O’Donnell really lavished on the praise.
“No one has talked tougher directly to Donald Trump than Michael Avenatti and Donald Trump is afraid to mention his name,” O’Donnell said. At another time he also said, “Donald Trump is terrified of Michael Avenatti.”
CBS appeared to acknowledge the media’s failure on Friday after a report about the prison sentence on “CBS This Morning.” Tony Dokoupil, co-host of the program noted that the liberal attorney had “big financial problems.”
But he immediately tried to justify Avenatti’s action.
“Maybe he needed some money and went about getting it the wrong way,” Dokoupil said.
CBS’s Jamie Wax (@Mistahwax) on Avenatti: “Maybe we went about covering him the wrong way.”@tonydokoupil: “I wouldn’t say ‘we’”
Wax: “The press, collectively”
Dokoupil: “It’s a big tent” pic.twitter.com/jt7oavXR02
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) July 9, 2021
“And maybe we went about covering him the wrong way,” correspondent Jamie Wax added.
“I wouldn’t say ‘we,'” Dokoupil said. “I wouldn’t say ‘we.’”
“The press, collectively,” Wax said with amusement.
“It’s a big tent,” Dokoupil clarified.
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