Eight weeks of chaos at MSNBC as chief Rashida Jones steps down after Trump meeting scandal and Rachel Maddow pay drama

CHAOS continues to reign at MSNBC after the network’s president Rashida Jones announced she was stepping down.

It comes eight weeks after the network was thrown into turmoil following the decision of two of its top anchors to meet with President-elect Donald Trump.

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MSNBC president Rashida Jones is stepping down after four yearsCredit: AFP

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It comes after two MSNBC anchors met with President-elect TrumpCredit: AP

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Rachel Maddow is returning to MSNBC five times a weekCredit: Getty
Jones, who made history when she became the first Black executive to lead a major US TV news network, will leave after four years.

The network’s senior vice president of content strategy, Rebecca Kutler, will take over as interim president.

Jones, who first recruited Kutler in 2022, will stay on in an advisory role until March, the network revealed on Tuesday.

In a memo to staff, she said that she had made the decision to walk away “over the holidays.”

Describing her time since taking charge in February 2021 as “the most rewarding chapter” of her career, she expressed her pride in the work they had done.

The decision comes almost two months after MSNBC’s parent company Comcast announced bold new plans to spin off most of its cable TV networks.

Under the move, MSNBC, along with CNBC, the USA Network, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and the Golf Channel would become part of a separate publicly traded company, currently known as SpinCo.

It also comes eight weeks after MSNBC Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski revealed they had had a “personal” meeting with President-elect Trump days after his victory in November’s presidential election.

Scarborough and Brzezinski, both vocal critics of Trump in the past, revealed they had met privately with the Republican at his Mar-a-Lago estate on November 15, 10 days after he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris.

It was the first time two parties had spoken in person for seven years.

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Defending the move on her Morning Joe opening segment, Brzezinski denounced the “Five years of political warfare” that had left Washington and the country “divided.”

She went on, “We have been as clear as we know how in expressing our deep concerns about President Trump’s actions and words in the coarsening of public debate.

“But for nearly 80 million Americans, election denialism, public trials, January 6th were not as important as the issues that moved them to send Donald Trump back to the White House with their vote.”

Speaking on November 18, she added, “Joe and I realize it’s time to do something different, and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump but also talking with him.”

Following the visit, President-elect Trump told FOX News Digital the meeting was “extremely cordial,” and added that the two anchors had praised his “flawless” presidential campaign.

Jones took charge of MSNBC in the wake of the inauguration of President Joe Biden and saw the network hit new ratings highs on a number of major political nights.

But the network has seen a post-election ratings dip, with 807,000 average viewers daily and 1.3 million prime-time at the end of last year.

OUTGOING M.S.N.B.C. CHIEF MESSAGE

IN a memo to staff, outgoing MSNBC president Rashida Jones revealed her reasons for stepping down.

“I came to this decision over the holidays while reflecting on our remarkable journey and the many successes we’ve achieved together as a team.

“This has been the most rewarding chapter of my professional career and I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished, which has been made possible only by you.”

There was positive news as Jones secured the return of MSNBC’s most high-profile anchor, Rachel Maddow, to her nightly show,

On Monday, it was announced that Maddow will return to lead coverage of Trump’s inauguration on January 20, before airing her prime-time show five nights a week from 9 pm.

However, it will only be a limited run until April 30, at which point she is expected to revert to her current Monday-only routine.

Maddow stepped back from her five-night-a-week schedule in 2022 as she signed a new contract that allows her to take up other projects including a successful round of podcasts.

Alex Wagner will occupy Maddow’s slot on Tuesday to Friday evenings while going on the road for various reporting assignments during the first 100 days of Trump’s second term.