Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has canceled a sit-down interview with Today show host Matt Lauer because his network has not taken action against Martin Bashir, the MSNBC host who suggested someone should urinate and defecate in Palin’s mouth.
According to Fox News, “Palin has now canceled Lauer’s scheduled trip to Wasilla,” not because “Palin is upset with Lauer or the ‘Today’ show, but as a protest against NBC for not taking action against Bashir.
Palin started her book tour on the Today show and has even been a guest-host for the program.
Her political action committee, SarahPAC, wrote a letter to MSNBC President Phil Griffin and NBC News President Deborah Turness, which Breitbart News exclusively obtained on Tuesday. In it, SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford asked whether MSNBC would discipline Bashir and noted that the network suspended Alec Baldwin for two weeks for anti-gay comments he made off the air, while Bashir made his comments on the air.
As Breitbart News reported, the letter also mentions that MSNBC has set a precedent of firing and discipling other anchors for “offensive language.”
“You fired Don Imus for offensive language in describing the Rutgers University Women’s Basketball team, you suspended Alec Baldwin, and yet nothing has happened to Mr. Bashir,” the letter reads. “Are we to assume then, that disciplinary procedures at your network take place based on the target of the remarks rather than the remarks themselves?”
The letter notes that “Mr. Baldwin’s anti-gay slur was not uttered while he was on the air on your network, but Mr. Bashir’s violent rhetoric was.” It concludes by saying, “Americans deserve to know that your network doesn’t condone violent and hateful rhetoric directed at anyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or political persuasion.”