MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle, who suggested it was “extraordinary” that the Loudoun County school board’s handling of a student rape became a focus of the Virginia governor’s race and implied parents’ concerns “aren’t even major issues,” will replace Brian Williams as the host of “The 11th Hour,” according to a report published Wednesday by Axios. The show has had a rotating slate of guest hosts since Williams hosted his final show in December.
Ruhle, a NBC senior business correspondent, questioned whether “misinformation” drove parental backlash against Loudoun County over its handling of a 15-year-old girl, who was raped by a “gender-fluid” male on the floor of a girls’ bathroom inside Stone Bridge High School last May. The district, which was preparing a policy to allow males who identify as female to use the girls bathroom, transferred the boy to another school, where he sexually assaulted another girl; he later entered a “no contest” plea to both charges. Interim superintendent Scott Ziegler had been informed of the incident — for which the “gender-fluid” perpetrator was subsequently convicted — but publicly insisted he did not have “any record of assaults occurring in our restrooms.”
Ruhle expressed her amazement that these and other public school issues became a statewide topic in the gubernatorial race. “But it’s just one county,” she said. “How have these school board fights become this big part of now a campaign across the state? I mean, that’s extraordinary.”
“Republicans are zeroing in on these topics, knowing that they can potentially rev up their base,” replied MSNBC reporter Catie Beck. “There are some within this school community who say this is all the work of disrupters, who are stirring up these incidents for political purposes.”
Ruhle then asked Beck, “How much misinformation ends up out there, right? These culture wars are often wrapped up in getting people fired up over things that aren’t even major issues.”
While Beck admitted “there certainly is some genuine outrage here in this school district about the ongoing issues,” she found it “unusual” that parents brought political signs to school board meetings, “so I think it is certainly a combination of multiple things at work here.”
MSNBC’s selection of Ruhle to host the 11 p.m. show assures the network will maintain its reputation as the home of liberal commentary.
- In late April, Ruhle literally yelled at West Virginia Governor Jim Justice (R), who signed a bill assuring fairness in women’s sports by barring males who identify as female from competing against females — a position shared by two-thirds of Americans. The shouting match came as an ambush during an interview that was supposed to focus on the state’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts;
- Last September, Ruhle said she was “puzzled by people that continue to say they’re forced to get vaccinated here.” She said vaccine passports do not amount to coercion, because “there’s always been a choice: If you do not want to get vaccinated, you can work from home. You can homeschool your children. You can shop online.” Her comments came after President Joe Biden ordered millions of federal workers and contractors to get vaccinated;
- Last May, Ruhle did not push back when guest Brittany Packnett Cunningham, whom former President Barack Obama appointed to his Task Force on 21st Century Policing, told her audience that “this rising crime … is actually the fault of the police”;
- Last June, Ruhle attempted to redefine the meaning of the “Defund the Police” movement, claiming, “The idea behind Defund the Police is not to take money away from the police force, but to redeploy money in better, smarter ways to keep law enforcement safe, to keep communities safe.” Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo corrected her on the air, adding that the movement “will not impact affluent neighborhoods, affluent communities; it will impact the communities that need us most”;
- Last November, Ruhle, who worked on Wall Street before becoming a financial reporter, said the decades-high inflation still building under the Biden administration did not hurt working families. “The dirty little secret here,” she said, is that “while nobody likes to pay more, on average we have the money to do so. Household savings hit a record high over the pandemic”;
- Last May, Ruhle said the dismal April 2021 jobs report just “the pressure we need” to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour;
- Earlier this month, Ruhle revealed that she still believes the conspiracy theory that Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election. Ruhle touted “the definitive Mueller report,” which she believed was “filled with” damning evidence that “didn’t actually resonate or make their way to the American people,” during an interview with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Her 9 a.m. show, “Stephanie Ruhle Reports,” will be absorbed into “Morning Joe,” Axios reported late Wednesday night.
Brian Williams stepped down from “The 11th Hour” in December. MSNBC gave Williams his own show despite the fact that he left his position as anchor of the “NBC Nightly News” after falsely claiming his helicopter had come under attack during a visit to Iraq.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.