Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann said there’s seemingly nothing to stop Elon Musk from buying the embattled cable news network Monday, even if it’s not technically for sale.
“Is there anybody to stop someone, Musk or not, from buying MSNBC and turning it into pro-Trump propaganda?” he asked, on his Countdown podcast. “Well, who stopped Musk from doing that to Twitter?”
Musk flirted with the idea after it was floated by Donald Trump Jr., the sycophant son of President-elect Donald Trump, who suggested to him buying the center-left network would be “the funniest idea ever!!!”
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Olbermann noted how the MAGA billionaire has degraded Twitter, the social media network he acquired and rebranded X, to the point where it is now basically a place for him to talk to bots and “fellow brain dead tech bros.”
It’s now worth 80 percent less than when Musk bought it, according to Fidelity estimates.
He noted there’s a possible path for MSNBC to undergo a similar degradation if Musk goes through with his “joke.”
Comcast announced last week it plans to spin off most of its struggling cable networks, including MSNBC, into a new standalone entity owned by existing shareholders.
While technically not putting the networks up for sale, Olbermann said it’s a sign the company may ultimately want to divest from cable altogether.
“Comcast wants to get out of the cable based business, or at minimum give it self the option to get out of the cable based business,” Olbermann said. “This is where Musk comes in, and if Musk comes in, maybe Trump comes in.”
Olbermann mocked how Musk even came to toying with the idea.
Don Jr. shared a tweet by a finance meme account that incorrectly stated, “Comcast is putting MSNBC up for sale.” It’s being spun off, not sold.
“A tech bro posts that Comcast is putting MSNBC up for sale—not technically true. But Trump Junior screenshots that—somehow steadies his hands long enough to post that screenshot and [types at Musk] ‘I have the funniest idea ever.’ And Musk replies ‘how much does it cost’? Just for spits and giggles."
None of this is to say Musk couldn’t make an unsolicited offer for the network, as he did with Twitter.
Olbermann went on to mock Megyn Kelly–who he called a “professional moron” who “self-destructed” at MSNBC and NBC News—for trying to get in on the action by quote tweeting an Elon Musk parody account on X, named “Not Elon Musk,” which asked: “MSNBC is going up for sale. Should I buy it?”
“Omg DO IT,” she tweeted.
