Krystal Ball, former co-host of “The Cycle” on MSNBC, claimed on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday that her former network has damaged left-wing causes by pushing Russia-related conspiracy theories about President Trump.
“Overall, I think MSNBC, in the Trump era, has done real damage to the left and I’ll tell you why,” Ball said on the show, as reported by Fox News. “I say that with love, I mean, these are my former colleagues, friends. The Russia story and what happened there was important, but it was not all-important, and they went so far in the realm of conspiracy theorizing.”
When Maher joked that Ball would be slapped with the “disgruntled former employee” label, Ball went on to say that MSNBC pushed some ridiculous theories, such as New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait claim that President Trump had been a Russian asset for over 30 years.
“This is ridiculous, OK? This is way out from what journalistic facts said,” Ball said. “They built up expectations so much that when the report came out, you were like, ‘Oh, this is no big deal,’ when it was a big deal.”
As noted by Fox News, the former MSNBC host previously criticized MSNBC back in July for pushing conspiracy theories that damaged the Left.
“After watching seven hours of a spectacle that felt much more cruel than enlightening, I can no longer avoid pondering a question which honestly gives me no joy to ponder: Just how much damage has MSNBC in particular done to the Left?” she asked. “Now this critique is not meant to be personal to the anchors and commentators there, many of whom I know — some of whom are actually close friends — having worked at that network for five years, but nearly all of whom got swept up in the ratings bubble that was feverish Russian conspiracy theories.”
Krystal Ball was not the only progressive who felt the Democratic Party pushed a little too hard on Russia conspiracy theories following the dud that was the Mueller report, which showed that Trump did not collude with the Kremlin. In fact, Michael Moore even told Democrats to literally “shut the f*** up” after the whole fiasco blew up in their faces.
“A frail old man, unable to remember things, stumbling, refusing to answer basic questions,” Moore tweeted in July. “I said it in 2017 and Mueller confirmed it today — All you pundits and moderates and lame Dems who told the public to put their faith in the esteemed Robert Mueller — just [shut the f*** up] from now on.”
In a later tweet, Michael Moore even said that Trump has all the reason to celebrate in the wake of Mueller’s testimony, and it could very well assure him re-election in 2020.
“Trump must be gloating in ecstasy. Not because of the failure that is Robert Mueller — his report is still a damning document of crimes by Trump — but because Trump understands the power of the visual, and he understands that the [Democrats] aren’t street fighters and that’s why he’ll win,” said Moore.