Allegations of liberal bias
As of 2024, MSNBC's evening programming features progressive hosts. In November 2007, a New York Times article stated that MSNBC's primetime lineup was tilting more to the left. Since then, some commentators have argued that MSNBC has a bias towards liberal politics and the Democratic Party. Washington Post media analyst Howard Kurtz said in 2008 that the channel's evening lineup "has clearly gravitated to the left in recent years and often seems to regard itself as the antithesis of Fox News." In 2011, Politico referred to MSNBC as "left-leaning", and Steve Kornacki of Salon.com stated that, "MSNBC's prime-time lineup is now awash in progressive politics." Regarding changes in the channel's evening programming, senior vice president of NBC News Phil Griffin said that "it happened naturally. There isn't a dogma we're putting through. There is a 'Go for it.'"
In the February 2008 issue of Men's Journal magazine, an MSNBC interviewee quoted a senior executive as saying that liberal commentator Keith Olbermann "runs MSNBC" and that "because of his success, he's in charge" of the channel. In 2007, The New York Times called Olbermann MSNBC's "most recognizable face". In September 2008, MSNBC stated that Olbermann and Chris Matthews would no longer anchor live political events, with David Gregory assuming that role. MSNBC cited the growing criticism that they were "too opinionated to be seen as neutral in the heat of the presidential campaign." Olbermann's show Countdown continued to run before and after the presidential and vice presidential debates, and both Matthews and Olbermann joined Gregory on the channel's election night coverage.
In November 2009, just before the release of Sarah Palin's book Going Rogue, MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan used photoshopped pictures of Palin on the channel's Morning Meeting program. Ratigan apologized a few days later.
In October 2010, MSNBC began using the tagline "Lean Forward". Some media outlets, including msnbc.com, claimed that the network was now embracing its politically progressive identity.
In January 2012, MSNBC used Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, and other network commentators during its coverage of the Iowa Republican caucuses. Nando Di Fino of the Mediaite website said MSNBC was "giving up on the straight news coverage, and instead [appearing] to be aiming to create some controversy."
In November 2012, The New York Times called MSNBC "The Anti-Fox" and quoted former President Bill Clinton as saying, "Boy, it really has become our version of Fox." Citing data from the A.C. Nielsen TV ratings service, the article noted that while the Fox News Channel had a larger overall viewership than MSNBC, the two networks were separated by only around 300,000 viewers among the 25–54 age bracket most attractive to advertisers.
In the Pew Research Center's 2013 "State of the News Media" report, MSNBC was found to be the most opinionated news network, with 85% of the content being commentary or opinions and the remaining 15% being factual reporting. The report also stated that in 2012, MSNBC spent only $240 million on news production compared to CNN's $682 million and the Fox News Channel's $820 million.
In October 2019, American socialist magazine Jacobin argued that "MSNBC embodies the politics and sensibility of Trump-era liberalism.", but argued that MSNBC "wasn't always liberal."
Writing for the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in February 2021, senior media writer Tom Jones argued that the primary distinction between MSNBC and Fox News is not left bias vs. right bias, but rather that much of the content on Fox News, especially during its primetime programs, is not based in truth.
Under NBC News head Cesar Conde, the division had made moves to incorporate more diverse viewpoints—including from conservative perspectives—in its output outside of MSNBC (including Meet the Press) to counter concerns from NBC's affiliate body that MSNBC's partisan content reflected upon the division as a whole. These moves coincided with MSNBC's own changes in leadership, which resulted in a gradual increase in opinion programming, and as a result, a gradual decrease in talent sharing with the remainder of NBC News.
During the 2008 election, MSNBC was accused of bias in favor of Barack Obama and bias against primary challenger Hillary Clinton. During the conventions, Matthews and Olbermann had a bitter argument on the air. As a result, David Gregory took over as the only news anchor of debates and election night.
In the fall of 2008, MSNBC had a new channel slogan called "The Power of Change", which put emphasis on Obama's "change" rhetoric.
Some Democratic Party supporters, including former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell and Bill Clinton advisor Lanny Davis, criticized MSNBC during and after the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries as covering Barack Obama more favorably than Hillary Clinton. In January 2011, Rendell became an on-air contributor to MSNBC.
A study done by the Project for Excellence in Journalism showed that MSNBC had less negative coverage of Obama with 14% of stories versus 29% in the press overall and more negative stories about Republican presidential candidate John McCain with 73% of its coverage versus 57% in the press overall. MSNBC's on-air slogan during the week of the 2008 presidential election, "The Power of Change", was criticized for being too similar to Obama's campaign slogan of "Hope and Change". After the election, conservative talk show host John Ziegler made a documentary entitled Media Malpractice... How Obama Got Elected, which was very critical of the media's role, especially MSNBC's, in the election. While promoting the documentary, he had an on-air dispute with MSNBC news anchor Contessa Brewer about how the media, especially MSNBC, had portrayed Sarah Palin.
During MSNBC's coverage of the Potomac primary, MSNBC's Chris Matthews said, "I have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often." This led conservative media to assert that both he and MSNBC were biased toward Obama.
In June 2010, the MSNBC documentary Rise of the New Right aired. It featured interviews with right-wing figures, including Dick Armey, the former House majority leader, Orly Taitz, a leading figure in the "birther" movement, and conspiracy theorist radio host Alex Jones. The documentary also showed the Michigan Militia's survival training camp and hit the campaign trail with Kentucky senatorial candidate Rand Paul.
The documentary angered Tea Party movement figures and others on the right. After the documentary aired, FreedomWorks, chaired by Armey, called for a boycott of Dawn and Procter & Gamble, which advertised during Hardball with Chris Matthews.
A study by the Pew Research Center found that MSNBC's coverage of Mitt Romney during the final week of the 2012 United States presidential election of 68% negative with no positive stories in the sample was far more negative than the overall press, and even more negative than it had been during October 1 to 28, when 5% was positive, and 57% was negative. However, coverage of Barack Obama improved in the final week before the presidential election. From 1 to October 28, 33% of stories were positive and 13% negative. During the campaign's final week, 51% of MSNBC's stories were positive, while there were no negative stories about Obama in the sample.
MSNBC received significant criticism and accusations of a liberal bias from Donald Trump and his supporters. In social media posts, Trump has frequently referred to MSNBC as "MSDNC", (accusing the network of acting as an arm to the Democratic National Committee), classified the network as part of the "fake news media", and claimed the network's viewership ratings were in decline. Trump has also directly criticized MSNBC shows and hosts as well, including Morning Joe, where, in 2017, Trump referred to host Mika Brzezinski as "low I.Q. Crazy Mika" and Joe Scarborough as "Psycho Joe" in a tweet. In May 2025, Trump accused MSNBC of committing a "Major Campaign Violation" after statements critical of Trump's Liberation Day tariffs were made by hosts on the network. In August 2025, Trump referred to Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace as a "loser", and predicted that she would be fired from the network.
