MSNBC apologized early Thursday for posting a tweet claiming the “rightwing” would “hate” a Cheerios Super Bowl ad starring a biracial family.
“Maybe the rightwing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family,” the original tweet read and linked to a short write-up of the ad.
@Cheerios we hope you will be releasing a statement about @MSNBC Horrendous Remark! It’s Unacceptable. #tcot pic.twitter.com/cO5F2wAUdZ
— OrgConservAmericans (@OCAmericans) January 30, 2014
The line prompted pundit Michelle Malkin to encourage conservatives to respond to the line with photos of their own families with the hashtag #MyRightWingBiracialFamily.
The network later apologized for the “offensive” tweet, then deleted it entirely:
Earlier, this account tweeted an offensive line about the new Cheerios ad. We deeply regret it. It does not reflect the position of msnbc.
— msnbc (@msnbc) January 30, 2014
We are deleting the earlier offensive tweet. It does not reflect msnbc’s position and we apologize.
— msnbc (@msnbc) January 30, 2014
MSNBC.com executive editor Richard Wolffe wrote that the Cheerios tweet wasn’t “who we are at msnbc.”
The Cheerios tweet from @msnbc was dumb, offensive and we’ve taken it down. That’s not who we are at msnbc.
— Richard Wolffe (@richardwolffedc) January 30, 2014
The disputed tweet follows a string of gratuitous comments made by MSNBC’s on-air talent. Host Martin Bashir resigned from the network last year after he made controversial comments about former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and actor Alec Baldwin departed over a gay slur he used in a confrontation with paparazzi shortly after his own program debuted.
h/t NYMag
This post has been updated.
