Women’s advocacy group UltraViolet on Wednesday called upon MSNBC to fire long-time host Chris Matthews after he repeatedly confronted Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on why she believed a female accuser of Michael Bloomberg over the ex-mayor himself.
“MSNBC needs to fire Chris Matthews. Today,” UltraViolet president Shaunna Thomas said in a statement. “Matthews’ refusal to believe women, and history of sexual harassment, make it clear that he is not fit to continue to cover this election. MSNBC can and must do better, and they can start by firing Chris Matthews.” (The group linked to a Vanity Fair article revealing that NBC paid separation to an employee who accused Matthews of harassment; and that he was given a formal reprimand.)
“We believe women, and we believe this accusation is genuine,” Thomas added. “The woman who made this accusation years ago has no incentive to lie about these claims—but Bloomberg, who is running for President, clearly does. That’s because Bloomberg’s history of sexist comments and racist attitudes have been well documented—he faces 40 cases involving 65 people who endured discrimination and harassment as his employee.”
Thomas concluded the statement by applauding Warren for directly confronting Bloomberg for allegedly telling a pregnant female employee to "kill it," resulting in the woman suing Bloomberg and eventually coming to a confidential settlement. While Bloomberg denies he made those remarks, a third-party witness later told the Washington Post that he overheard the conversation.
