MSNBC is a news TV channel with center-right morning opinion shows, straight news during the day and center-left to liberal opinion shows in the evening.
Major Event Broadcasts
MSNBC airs extensive coverage of all major political and newsworthy events, including primary debates, general election debates, Presidential speeches, press conferences, and election nights.
The amount of time MSNBC spends covering any major event depends on how important it is. For example, a general election debate between the Democratic and Republican nominees will get hours of coverage before and after the event while a hastily announced Presidential press conference may only receive minimal coverage outside of the event itself.
When there is a major debate, MSNBC will bring together a team of journalists and political pundits to discuss what they think will happen during the debate and then bring them back on the air to discuss how they felt the debate went at the conclusion of the event.
Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid and Nicolle Wallace air major event coverage with help from Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, Alex Wagner, Ari Melber, Steve Kornacki, Eugene Robinson, Gadi Schwartz and others.
Prime time hosts Lawrence O’Donnell, Chris Hayes, Chris Matthews, Al Sharpton and Joe Scarborough also offer their thoughts throughout the course of major event broadcasts.
Morning Broadcasting
Morning Joe is MSNBC's premiere morning show. The show, hosted by Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist, spends three hours each morning discussing major news of the day and interviews major players in the political world. It is a center-right morning opinion show that invites politicians and pundits from across the political spectrum on to discuss the pressing issues of the day.
MSNBC Live, hosted for one hour each by Stephanie Ruhle, Hallie Jackson, and Craig Melvin rounds out the remaining morning broadcasting. Their coverage tends to be focused more on live and breaking news.
Afternoon Broadcasting
Nicole Wallace's Deadline: Whitehouse is MSNBC's premier afternoon broadcast. Wallace spends two hours at the end of the afternoon discussing the pressing issues of the day and interviewing prominent figures in the political world.
Other afternoon shows aired on MSNBC are Andrea Mitchell Reports, MTP Daily, MSNBC Live with Katy Tur, The Beat With Ari Melber, and The ReidOut.
Primetime Broadcasting
MSNBC's primetime coverage is opinion focused with a center-left to liberal coverage. Chris Hayes starts the evening's primetime coverage with his show All In With Chris Hayes.
Rachel Maddow is MSNBC's premiere primetime host and hosts her show during the coveted 9-10PM EST slot. Maddow has been a main stay at MSNBC since 2008 and has a devoted following.
After Maddow is The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell and then rounding off the nights coverage is The 11th Hour With Brian Williams.
The third and final Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was held at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. Both candidates were allowed to answer moderator Kristen Welker's initial questions for two minutes uninterrupted, as a new feature allowed opponent's mics to be muted during that timeframe. After the initial segment question, of which there were six, both candidates spoke freely. Biden and Trump addressed questions on outside interference with American elections, the economy, national security, the ongoing pandemic, healthcare, climate change and tax plans if elected. Final question was about Leadership. This debate was far more civil than their first.
Oct 07 2020
Wed
Salt Lake City, UT
Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence faced off at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City for their first and only debate. A couple memorable moments are when the moderator accidently referred to Senator Harris as Kamala Harris, to which the Senator responded "that's fine. I'm Kamala" and when a fly landed on Pence's head. The two repeatedly clashed over the Trump Administrations response to multiple crises gripping the United States, with Senator Harris strongly criticizing Trump and Pence for their inability to help everyday Americans and VP Pence largely sticking to talking points in defense of Trump.
The first Presidential Debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was held in front of a small audience at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. The topics debated were Biden's and Trump's records, the Supreme Court, pandemic, economy, racial unrest, and election integrity. Donald Trump constantly interrupted Joe Biden, prompting the former Vice President to ask Donald Trump "will you shut up, man?" Chris Wallace, the moderator for the evening, constantly had to chime in to ask Donald Trump to stop interrupting Joe Biden.
The 9th Democratic Debate was held at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. NBC News and MSNBC hosted the debate along with The Nevada Independent. It was the smallest debate stage in the 2020 election cycle and the first debate former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg participated in. His Democratic rivals wasted no time harshly criticizing his record on a number of issues and questioning his motives for entering the race. Bloomberg appeared caught off guard at some moments, but forcefully pushed back at others. Another memorable moment is when Sen. Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg had an impassioned debate over courting minority voters.
The Fifth Democratic Debate will be hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Ten candidates qualified for the debate - Cory Booker, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Andrew Yang, and Tom Steyer.
Night two of the first Democratic debate of the 2020 election cycle featured the second ten of twenty candidates who qualified to participate. The debate featured much more spirited discussion between the candidates than the first evening, with Vice President Biden, Senator Sanders, and Senator Harris engaging each other directly on a number of hot button issues like universal healthcare, racism, and immigration reform. One exchange in particular stood out when Senator Harris criticized Vice President Biden over his remarks praising former segregationist Southern Senators. Biden pushed back by saying Harris mischaracterized his words and insisted he did not praise racists.
The first Democratic debate of the 2020 election cycle featured the first ten of twenty candidates who qualified to participate. There were plenty of minor disagreements between the candidates, particularly on immigration, healthcare policy, and Donald Trump. Some notable moments are when Senator Warren publicly called for the elimination of private health insurance (a first for her), Julian Castro's passionate plea for a more inclusive immigration law, and a number of candidates answering questions in Spanish instead of English in a bid to appeal to Hispanic voters.