Ed Schultz, the progressive talk radio host and former MSNBC personality, has landed at RT America — the Kremlin-backed cable news channel that has been criticized for advocating a pro-Russian agenda.
Schultz will host “News with Ed Schultz” at 8 p.m. weeknights, where he will “focus on exploring issues that most affect working Americans, particularly within the context of the upcoming US presidential election,” according to a press release.
RT America is an arm of Russia Today.
In a 30-second ad for the show, Schultz promises to deliver news in the same progressive vein that he did as a host on MSNBC, championing the middle class and organized labor while fighting against Washington corruption and corporate interests.
“For decades, the American middle class has been railroaded by Washington politics,” Schultz says in the ad. “Big money corporate interests has drowned out a lot of voices. That’s how it is in the news culture in this country now. That’s where I come in… I’ll make sure you don’t get railroaded, and you’ll get the straight talk and the straight news.”
Then he recites Russia Today’s slogan: “Question more.”
Schultz was one of the most outspoken voices on MSNBC until last year, when the network decided to cut its late-afternoon lineup of liberal programming. For Schultz, who had come to be seen as the network’s liberal answer to Rush Limbaugh, there was no longer a clear fit at an increasingly news-centric MSNBC.
But how Schultz’s promises of “straight talk” will line up with RT’s pro-Russian agenda remain to be seen. In recent years, the network has been widely criticized for having a pro-Kremlin bias and for ignoring or silencing opposing viewpoints.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, in 2014, the network claimed that Russia had been “forced” to act and was a “stabilizing” force in the region — assertions that held little weight in the global court of public opinion.
When one of its anchors, Abby Martin, went on air to condemn the invasion, the network responded by endorsing her right to free speech — but also by sending her to Crimea. Days later, Liz Wahl, an anchor in RT’s Washington bureau, declared that she was resigning, because she “could not be part of a network funded by the Russian government that whitewashed the actions of Putin.”
In a statement on Thursday, Schultz said he was “very excited to be joining RT.”
“The network is firmly established outside of US corporate media and is not afraid to give a platform to diverse voices, stories and perspectives to its viewers, even if it ruffles some mainstream feathers,” he said. “I can’t think of a better fit than a news broadcaster that bullishly pursues issues that matter to hardworking Americans.”