[POLITICO] NBC has been rocked by an internal feud over its decision to host a town hall with Donald Trump...the Nailer of NAFTA...
at the same time as ABC’s Thursday event with Joe
Foreign Policy Whiz KidBiden
...Candidate for president in 2020.
I'm not working for you. Don't be such a horse's ass....
, a scheduling move that critics contend is a gift to the president after he refused to participate in a debate originally scheduled for Thursday.
The internal conflict extends to the highest levels of NBCUniversal, where MSNBC head Phil Griffin strongly disagreed with NBC News President Noah Oppenheim’s decision to unilaterally move forward with the town hall during that time slot, according to three high-ranking sources at the TV media giant.
Griffin and Oppenheim have been increasingly at loggerheads over the way the two networks present their news, with MSNBC moving more leftward in its commentary while NBC News tries to maintain a more traditional down-the-middle approach, the sources said.
"Each side thinks the other is ruining the other’s brand, and this just ripped it open," said one of the sources.
Under fire from Biden allies calling for a viewership boycott, former NBC personalities and media critics, NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde acknowledged the external and internal controversy in a written statement.