MSNBC hires failed Democrat candidate after his short-lived campaign

close

Video

Media top headlines February 3

In media news today, Jeff Zucker resigns from his role at CNN after failing to disclose a ‘consensual relationship,’ CNN insiders react to the president’s abrupt exit, and Al Franken says Whoopi Goldberg’s name is proof she is not anti-Semitic.

Former political strategist and left-wing media punding Matthew Dowd  joined MSNBC as a political contributor and analyst, MSNBC host Nicole Wallace announced on Wednesday.

Dowd's new role reportedly includes field reporting, where he will travel across the country to examine the threats facing U.S. democracy in the months leading up to the 2022 midterms elections. 

MATTHEW DOWD NUKES 175K TWEETS AHEAD OF CAMPAIGN FOR TEXAS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Matthew Dowd joins MSNBC after 13 years at ABC News. (Photo by Lorenzo Bevilaqua/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images) MATTHEW DOWD (Lorenzo Bevilaqua)

The news comes after Dowd ended his campaign for lieutenant governor of Texas back in December. He ended his bid for Texas lieutenant governor after a short two months after he announced, so that a non-White, male Christian candidate can prevail.

"When I first announced, the only other candidate was a White male Christian. A diverse field is now emerging in the Democratic primary for this office. I do not want to be the one who stands in the way of the greater diversity we need in politics," he wrote.  

A Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat again, Dowd served as ABC News' chief political analyst for more than a decade before leaving the network last year. While the former George W. Bush strategist often touted being an independent as a political commentator, he is known to have strong ties to the left-wing Lincoln Project and has openly supported Democrats and liberal policies throughout his tenure. 

MATTHEW DOWD SNAPS AT CNN ANCHOR OVER DELETION OF TWEETS

Dowd found himself the subject of public scrutiny in October over his mass-deletion of approximately 175,000 old tweets ahead of his campaign for lieutenant governor.

Some of his deleted tweets included attacks against Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., over her gender and age, and an image of a deadly Texas highway pileup to mock former President Trump’s impeachment defense team. He also previously called Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas a "sexual predator," said running for president against a woman was sexist, and accused Trump supporters of doing more damage to the republic than the Islamic State terrorist group. 

Dowd also faced backlash for saying that the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was worse than the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Dowd joins the former chief spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris, Symone Sanders, who joined the liberal network last month as a new weekend host and host on their streaming service Peacock. 

Fox News' David Rutz contributed to this report.