Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

MSNBC Host Claims She’d ‘Love To Have More Republicans On’ — But Has Excuse For Not Booking Them

Screenshot/YouTube/Stephen A. Smith

MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle asserted on SiriusXM’s “Straight Shooter with Stephen A.” on Wednesday that she wants to host more Republicans on her show but said they do not fit its style.

Ruhle hosts “The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle” on weekdays on MSNBC, a network that 49% of Republicans distrust and just 14% trust — while 45% of Democrats trust it — according to a March 2025 Pew Research Center survey. Ruhle suggested on the SiriusXM show that she cannot find Republicans who are willing to criticize President Donald Trump or engage civilly.

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“It is my job … not to bring on spokespeople, not to bring on talking heads or pundits. I will tell you, and it’s a big frustration for me — I would love to have more Republicans on my air,” Ruhle said. “And I think, unfortunately, right now, this moment that we’re in, Republicans who will come on TV and be critical of this president for any reasons get annihilated if they’re critical of him — the White House kills them.”

“And then the group who will come on for the sole purpose of owning the libs or performing for the president — I want to be clear, nobody is invited on my program who wants to own anybody, right?” she added. “This ain’t the NBA. Nobody’s here to slam dunk anyone.”

While Ruhle does not seem to host Republicans, she also rarely appears to host Democratic elected officials, a Daily Caller News Foundation review found. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appeared on the show on Oct. 7 and other recent Democratic guests have included a former Democratic representative, a former Democratic candidate and a current Democratic candidate.

Instead, the MSNBC host tends to book left-leaning reporters and analysts.

CNN host Abby Phillip acknowledged on “The Breakfast Club” in October that her own network is “probably center-left,” placing its political bent between Fox News and MSNBC. She asserted CNN frequently books Republicans.

“When you actually watch CNN, we have Republicans on every hour of the day, every single one. I’m pretty sure — maybe with very few exceptions — but virtually every hour of the day,” she said. “So they’re not always on in the context that we put them on, but we as a network have a diversity of viewpoints on the air more so than our competitors.”

Republican trust in the media has plummeted to 8%, the first time it has fallen into single digits, according to a Gallup survey published on Oct. 2. Democratic trust has also declined, but only down to 51%.

On the “Soul Boom” podcast in April, Ruhle attributed the trust deficit primarily to Trump, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and X owner Elon Musk. However, host Rainn Wilson pushed back.

“When I see this kind of insight and passion being directed at the current administration and the lack of this kind of insight and passion being directed at the previous administration — where again, I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about left-leaning news media organizations — were kind of like, ‘La la la la, everything’s fine. Look, the economy is great, la la la, immigration’s not that much of a problem,’ and really being Cleopatra, queen of denial,” he said.