Skip to Content

275,000 call on MSNBC to fire Pat Buchanan

Buchanan has not appeared on the network since the campaign to fire him was launched

New York, NY – African-American civil rights organization ColorOfChange.org and CREDO Action delivered more than 275,000 petition signatures to MSNBC President Phil Griffin and NBC News President Steve Capus demanding the network fire political analyst Pat Buchanan after his appearance on white nationalist radio program The Political Cesspool to promote his new book. The Political Cesspool describes itself as representing “a philosophy that is pro-White … We wish to revive the White birthrate above replacement level fertility and beyond to grow the percentage of Whites in the world relative to other races.” The show has a reputation for being racist, sexist, anti-gay, and anti-Semitic. In calling for his firing, the groups also cited a long history of bigoted rhetoric from Buchanan.

Buchanan has not appeared on MSNBC since ColorOfChange.org began its campaign two weeks ago, and the Huffington Post recently reported that MSNBC “is taking the concerns seriously.”

Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of ColorofChange.org, said “MSNBC’s motto is ‘lean forward,’ but their silence in the face of Pat Buchanan’s bigoted ideology is incredibly backwards. While Buchanan hasn’t appeared on the network since our campaign started, MSNBC has to do more than hide him away and hope we will forget about his years of advancing extreme and dangerous opinions.” Robinson continued, “If MSNBC wants to be seen as a trusted mainstream source of news and commentary, it needs to end its silence and fire Pat Buchanan.”

Becky Bond, Political Director of CREDO Action, said, “Just because Pat Buchanan has first amendment rights, doesn’t mean MSNBC has to pay him to spew his racist rhetoric. If Buchanan’s behavior violates standards at MSNBC the network should fire him. If the network stands by Buchanan’s behavior and believes his work is in line with its core values, it should defend him. We need to know just where MSNBC stands.”

ColorOfChange.org gathered more than 86,000 signatures from its members since launching the campaign two weeks ago. CREDO Action collected more than 189,000 signatures from its members calling for Buchanan’s firing. CREDO Action began calling for Buchanan’s firing this summer, and stepped up its efforts since Buchanan’s appearance on white supremacist radio.

ColorOfChange.org’s petition reads, in part, “Buchanan has a long and consistent history of peddling white supremacist ideology as legitimate political commentary, on your network and elsewhere. […]Pat Buchanan has the right to express his views, but he’s not entitled to a platform that lets him broadcast bigotry and hate to millions. If MSNBC and NBC want to be seen as trusted, mainstream sources of news and commentary, you need to fire Buchanan now.”

CREDO Action’s petition reads as follows: “MSNBC: Stop giving a platform on your network to xenophobia, bigotry and hate speech. Fire Pat Buchanan immediately.”

###

With more than 800,000 members, ColorOfChange.org is the nation’s largest African-American online political organization.

Back to top

Make A Gift To Fuel The Fight For Justice!

Donate