MSNBC Apologizes to Right-Wingers, Fires Tweeter Who Pissed Them Off
MSNBC apologized to Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus and announced Thursday that it canned a social media worker who angered conservatives for tweeting that they hated biracial families.
On Wednesday night, someone tweeted this from MSNBC's main account:
The tweet referred back to a controversy early last year, when conservatives and racists were angered by a Cheerios commercial featuring a biracial family and their daughter—a commercial most viewers just found adorable.
This time around, conservatives were tweaked by MSNBC's trolling—so much so that they launched their own hashtag meme to prove their racially enlightened bonafides, #MyBiracialRightwingFamily.
It didn't go over so well, getting hijacked by jokers:
#MyRightwingBiracialFamily pic.twitter.com/lFPtGBH5mU
— michael leung (@michaelleung) January 30, 2014
#MyRightWingBiracialFamily pic.twitter.com/TMNd3P3q0p
— Joel Johnson (@joeljohnson) January 30, 2014
Nevertheless, after Priebus vowed that no RNC member would venture onto MSNBC until an apology came, the network caved to right-wing rancor and reversed course:
We are deleting the earlier offensive tweet. It does not reflect msnbc's position and we apologize.
— msnbc (@msnbc) January 30, 2014
Earlier, this account tweeted an offensive line about the new Cheerios ad. We deeply regret it. It does not reflect the position of msnbc.
— msnbc (@msnbc) January 30, 2014
MSNBC president Phil Griffin came back to Priebus, hat in hand, with this public statement:
The tweet last night was outrageous and unacceptable. We immediately acknowledged that it was offensive and wrong, apologized, and deleted it. We have dismissed the person responsible for the tweet.
I personally apologize to Mr. Priebus and to everyone offended. At MSNBC we believe in passionate, strong debate about the issues and we invite voices from all sides to participate. That will never change.
Sometimes, leaning forward gives way to kissing ass.