Bill Maher guest tells MSNBC host to his face the problem with legacy media networks: 'It's propaganda all the time!'

Writer Andrew Sullivan told MSNBC host Ari Melber to his face on Friday that he works for a propaganda company.

During a lengthy debate on Bill Maher's HBO show "Real Time" about the significance of Donald Trump's political resurgence, Sullivan observed how the Democratic Party's reaction to Trump is eroding American democracy.

"What the Democrats have done the last four years, which is respond to Trump by going even further to the left, means that we are losing the legitimacy of the system," Sullivan said. "When you lose that core legitimacy, you lose your democracy — that's where we are really going to lose our democracy because we don’t believe in it any more.

The left's overreaction, according to Sullivan, is driving Americans to distrust "all the institutions" and to support "a strongman" like Trump. Sullivan, therefore, predicted Trump will defeat President Joe Biden in November.

Melber, in response, told Sullivan that he made "fair points" but criticized him for sounding "a little bit both-sides-y."

While the MSNBC host acknowledged problems with the Democratic Party's "overreaction to Trump," Melber immediately absolved Democrats by claiming "there's not equivalence here." He explained:

There isn't a both-sides-ism to this decay, and what Trump does — and I agree at times he may draw his opponents into messy dumb feuds — but he is the one banking on a cynicism, an attack on democracy, and a complete rejection of the policy-democracy that you want because they didn’t even have a platform. So he’s saying, it’s just me. You don’t even know what I’m going to do. Just vote for me. No platform. And you’ve got a whole Republican Party that’s basically codifying that.

Melber's response, according to Sullivan, demonstrated the exact problems with TV networks like MSNBC, Melber's employer.

"You know what would be good at MSNBC is if you actually did think about both sides and weigh the arguments and make constructive arguments against that side while respecting them," Sullivan said.

"You don't do that — it's propaganda all the time!" he exclaimed.

Sullivan's observation clearly struck a nerve with Melber, who denied it is true. And to be fair, Melber hosts many Republicans and Trump supporters on his show.

But Sullivan's point holds true for most of MSNBC and the legacy media in the eyes of a majority of Americans, which is why trust in the media remains near record lows. It's also why alternative forms of media — like independent journalism, podcasts, and subscription-based models — are overtaking traditional media.

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