Greta Van Susteren Says MSNBC Was Only Network That Tried Controlling Her

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Greta Van Susteren broke her silence this week on her departure from MSNBC and some of the details surrounding the network.

During an interview with Tara Palmeri for “The Red Letter,” Van Susteren claimed that after more than three decades in the media business, MSNBC was the only network that tried “controlling” her.

Palmeri and Van Susteren began speaking about their work with Voice of America, an outlet put on the chopping block by President Donald Trump as part of his sweeping cuts to the federal government.

Palmeri asked Susteren if she thought the Voice of America newsroom had “leftist bias.” Van Susteren said there was not, citing MSNBC as the network that attempted to manipulate her.

After more than ten years with Fox News, Van Susteren spent less than a year working for MSNBC in 2017.

“After I had been at CNN and Fox and then MSNBC tried to tell me what to do. I almost thought they were joking because I had like a 15- or 18-year career in the news business and nobody ever told me and so it never occurred to me,” Susteren said.

Check out the entire exchange below:

TARA PALMERI: From your experience being inside, do you feel there was a leftist bias inside the newsroom?

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN: Well, first of all, I only knew the one narrow niche which was English. I have no idea what anyone else was saying. Nobody told me what to say or do while I was there. Nobody told me what to do or say at CNN, Fox —

PALMERI: They wouldn’t dare! Come on, Greta [laughs] They wouldn’t dare with you.

SUSTEREN: Well, no, that’s why I got fired at MSNBC.

PALMERI: I forgot to mention MSNBC [laughs].

SUSTEREN: After I had been at CNN and Fox and then MSNBC tried to tell me what to do. I almost thought they were joking because I had like a 15 or 18 year career in the news business and nobody ever told me and so it never occurred to me. So that’s why I got fired at MSNBC because they said I needed to play ball, and I thought that didn’t work.

WATCH:

Just five and a half months after joining MSNBC in late 2016, Van Susteren, host of the 6 p.m. Eastern Time show “For the Record with Greta,” was abruptly fired. This was her second abrupt departure from a cable news position in less than a year.

John Coale, her agent and husband, said the decision was unexpected and shocked them.

Van Susteren’s show was a weak link in MSNBC’s evening lineup due to its poor ratings, which averaged 1 million viewers in June, an 18% decrease from the previous hour.

Van Susteren’s old time slot was taken by current host Ari Melber on MSNBC. Even now, Melber’s program, “The Beat with Ari Melber,” is still broadcast.

When Van Susteren provided legal analysis on CNN during the Simpson trial in the 1990s, he first became well-known nationwide.

After that, she co-hosted the network’s legal analysis program, “Burden of Proof.”

She began hosting “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” on Fox News in 2002 and stayed there for roughly 14 years. The program was renowned for its in-depth discussions and coverage of legal and political matters.

After that, she worked for Voice of America and Newsmax, where she now hosts a news show.