Thread by @FTWTMPS

Long-ass, pissed-off thread.

On Feb. 18, @ElectionsIndex began counting the number of mentions of leading candidates on @MSNBC. At that point, just 2 states had voted. @PeteButtigieg finished 1st in Iowa, 2nd in New Hampshire, and *led the field in delegates.* Strong, no?

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But what neither Pete nor his supporters could know is that @MSNBC was engaged in a campaign – either consciously or subconsciously - to erase the front-running candidate.

The network didn’t always do it through overt means – at least not on some of their shows.

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Rather, they just stopped talking about him.
When they did mention him, it was typically in unflattering terms.

Nevada voted next on Feb. 22 with Pete finishing 3rd (higher than expected) and the @ElectionsIndex count ended two days later.

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What did the count reveal?

1. MSNBC’s cheerleading obsession with @BernieSanders. He drew three times as many mentions (2,701) as the second (@JoeBiden), third (@ewarren) and fourth candidates *combined* (2,732).

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2. Pete, the first major out gay presidential candidate in our nation’s history, who led or was 2nd in delegates during most of the counting period, received just 438 mentions.

Sanders received more than six times more. SIX FUCKING TIMES.

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Context: Warren, who hadn’t finished higher than 3rd in any of the first 3 states and was wayyy behind Pete in delegates & votes, received nearly TWICE as many mentions than Pete.

Klobuchar, with even fewer votes and delegates than Warren, got 316 mentions to Pete’s 438.

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More: MSNBC personalities worked overtime during this period to create a self-fulfilling narrative that Pete had no support from POC, despite polling that indicated he was slowly growing that support.

It left an impression that POC shouldn’t throw away votes on Pete.

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3. The residual reality: @MSNBC had its finger on the scales for Sanders, and to a lesser extent, Warren.

Because MSNBC is the leading news network for Democratic viewers, their bias had a far greater impact than, say, if FOX News were doing the same thing.

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Now, make no mistake, I’m all in for Pete, and still working to see him do well on Super Tuesday.

But I am looking beyond the election, too, and want to send a clear message to the LGBTQ community:

@MSNBC is not your friend.

It's just not.

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I know, they have @maddow, who I adore. Their coverage of LGBTQ issues such as marriage equality has been solid.

But anyone who’s paying attention in politics knows that without elected representation, minority voters struggle to gain attention/support for real progress.

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Most states do not ban discrimination based on sexual orientation & gender ID. Trump has rolled back many hard-won protections and benefits at the federal level and continues to do so.

I have NO CONFIDENCE that ANY other candidate would make those issues a priority. ZERO.

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That’s one of many reasons why Pete’s candidacy is so important, so necessary for me and others

I never expected @MSNBC to be in the tank for Pete. But I did expect fairness & objectivity. Instead, it has allowed @JoyAnnReid & @Lawrence and numerous hand-picked guests ...

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to drag or minimize him relentlessly.

Until this election cycle is over, I’ll be confining my cable news viewing to @CNN. I encourage every LGBTQ person and ally to do the same. Through its actions, over months, MSNBC has proven it is not worthy of our viewership.

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Despite thousands of us raising the above points, the networks has yet to offer any response. Silence.

Save for things like yesterday's biased, unprofessional @JoyAnnReid interview with Pete. If you didn't see it, here it is. Indefensible.

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msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/p…

Pete handled it as well as possible, despite Reid's fixation on taking him down. We've complained to MSNBC repeatedly with no response at all.

So as Pete says, albeit in a very different context, I AM CHANGING THE CHANNEL. I urge you to do so, too.

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And for the record, if you haven’t seen the @electionindex report, here it is in graphic form.

#PeteforAmerica

16/16

https://twitter.com/TownHallIndex/status/1232742144617697281?s=20