On Friday, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced it is shutting down, and the cast of MSNBC’s The 11th Hour lost its mind as it rolled out the same tired talking points about local news, weather, and children’s educational programming.
However, guest host Antonia Hylton welcomed GOP Rep.-turned MSNBC Republican-turned current Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly and clearly had a desired answer in mind when she asked, “You're in Florida. This is a state that has more rural communities and corners that may lose out on quality reporting but also emergency information as a state that experiences serious storms. What are you worried you might soon see?”
There is no evidence to suggest that Florida will be more vulnerable to storms without CPB. However, the not-so-jolly Jolly told his former colleague, “Well, look, I do think it’s a sad day for the nation and for our culture and frankly, reflects a president who is weak and timid and intimidated by Daniel Tiger. I mean, I'm not sure why they've declared war on culturally relevant, enriching educational programing, because that is essentially what PBS is.”
Jolly continued to portray PBS as the only thing separating the country from the Dark Ages, “But it also fills a critical, a critical part in and, frankly, the wealth gap and the accessibility gap to information and to programming in a day and age where programming is often, you know, you have to pay for it, you have to subscribe for it in some way. PBS, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the other platforms provide news, provide educational tools for children, literacy tools for children, culturally relevant, enriching content for individuals and families.”
After repeating himself, Jolly concluded, “Look, I think they're going to anger a lot of people. It's not just Donald Trump, though. Mike Johnson said, ‘Promise made, promise kept.’ Shame on Mike Johnson and Republicans for going along with this.”
Hylton then turned to politics and journalism professor Jason Johnson and wondered, “Consistently, polling shows that Americans love and appreciate and often depend on these programs. Jason, who are the Americans you're most concerned about?”
Johnson too would insist that public broadcasting is the key to preventing the country from falling back into the primitive past, “Well, people who are worried about, like, local news and weather. Like, there's a lot of different things that your local NPR station actually does and provides.”
He then recalled, “This is another example of something that Republicans have been broadcasting, no pun intended, for 15 years. Remember, Mitt Romney bragged about the fact that he was going to fire Big Bird, right? So it's not like this is new.”
That would seem to undermine the idea that defunding CPB is some abnormally radical Trumpy move, but Johnson was undeterred and even hinted Trump might not leave office:
The big concern that I have is that one day if we are able to remove this regime, and it is a regime, they don't certainly act in any sort of constitutional or presidential way that any of our lifetimes have ever been before. The amount of money and investment and fights it'll take to bring back these kinds of things: NPR, USAID, you know, various jobs have been destroyed by DOGE, will take a massive effort. And I don't know if the current opposition party has the backbone to replace that which has been destroyed by this current regime.
Perhaps the reason why nobody wanted to discuss the real issue of PBS and NPR’s bias is because the Jolly revolving door isn’t the only one. The revolving door between MSNBC and PBS is well-established. Everyone from Geoff Bennett, Amna Nawaz, Jonathan Capehart, Yamiche Alcindor, and Laura Barron-Lopez either appears on both networks or has moved from one to another in recent years.
Here is a transcript for the August 1 show:
MSNBC The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle
8/1/2025
11:50 PM ET
ANTONIA HYLTON: So, David, I’ll ask this of you then. Are, you know, you're in Florida. This is a state that has more rural communities and corners that may lose out on quality reporting but also emergency information as a state that—
DAVID JOLLY: That’s right.
HYLTON: —experiences serious storms. What are you worried you might soon see?
JOLLY: Well, look, I do think it’s a sad day for the nation and for our culture and frankly, reflects a president who is weak and timid and intimidated by Daniel Tiger. I mean, I'm not sure why they've declared war on culturally relevant, enriching educational programing, because that is essentially what PBS is.
But it also fills a critical, a critical part in and, frankly, the wealth gap and the accessibility gap to information and to programming in a day and age where programming is often, you know, you have to pay for it, you have to subscribe for it in some way. PBS, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the other platforms provide news, provide educational tools for children, literacy tools for children, culturally relevant, enriching content for individuals and families.
And so I'm not sure this attack on public broadcasting is exactly what voters have asked for. And I promise you, look, our two kids are six and four. The benefit of the PBS platform for our kids learning to read and learning basic lessons of civility, learning about diversity, learning about a rich culture. A lot of that comes from the free to consumers PBS platform. Look, I think they're going to anger a lot of people. It's not just Donald Trump, though. Mike Johnson said, “Promise made, promise kept.” Shame on Mike Johnson and Republicans for going along with this.
HYLTON: Yeah. You would think from some of the comments we've heard from people like Speaker Johnson that Americans have been begging for decades for public broadcasting to lose its support. But consistently, polling shows that Americans love and appreciate and often depend on these programs.
JOLLY: That’s right.
HYLTON: Jason, who are the Americans you're most concerned about?
JASON JOHNSON: Well, people who are worried about, like, local news and weather. Like, there's a lot of different things that your local NPR station actually does and provides. And I can say this as somebody who's been on NPR a lot, who has friends and colleagues who are on NPR. And here's the issue that I see, regardless of how many people complain about this, this is another example of something that Republicans have been broadcasting, no pun intended, for 15 years.
Remember, Mitt Romney bragged about the fact that he was going to fire Big Bird, right? So it's not like this is new. So anybody who says this isn't what we voted for, they haven't been paying attention for the last 10 or 15 years. The big concern that I have is that one day if we are able to remove this regime, and it is a regime, they don't certainly act in any sort of constitutional or presidential way that any of our lifetimes have ever been before. The amount of money and investment and fights it'll take to bring back these kinds of things: NPR, USAID, you know, various jobs have been destroyed by DOGE, will take a massive effort. And I don't know if the current opposition party has the backbone to replace that which has been destroyed by this current regime.
