President Trump accused MSNBC’s parent company on Saturday of firing anchor Greta Van Susteren for refusing to go along with the network’s negative coverage of him and his administration.
“Word is that @Greta Van Susteren was let go by her out of control bosses at @NBC & @Comcast because she refused to go along w/ ‘Trump hate!'” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Van Susteren abruptly announced that she was “out at MSNBC” on Thursday, less than six months after joining the network. She had previously spent 14 years as a staple of Fox News conservative lineup.
When she moved to MSNBC, it was unclear how she would be received by the network’s more liberal audience. But Van Susteren’s ratings floundered in her first months on the air there, averaging one million viewers per night in June.
Trump’s accusation on Saturday that she declined to comply with MSNBC’s alleged trend of “Trump hate” was the second time in recent days that the president attacked the network.
He came under fire on Thursday after leveling a graphic and personal broadside against “Morning Joe” co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, including accusing Brzezinski of having a face lift. Trump sent another tweet about the co-hosts on Saturday, saying they are “not bad people” but “their low rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses.”
Van Susteren has used her own Twitter platform since the end of her contract to promote her new book, releasing in November, take suggestions on next steps from her followers, and promote a fund for Liberian children.
“Don’t feel sorry for me, I am fine. Feel sorry for someone who loses a job and has no savings and no options,” she tweeted Friday. “My contract was terminated and it was within their right to terminate it.”