Ari Melber interviews New Hampshire voters – 2/11/2020. Screen grab via MSNBC.

Understandably, Republicans are by and large the group of people who complain most often about slanted media coverage and how they play favorites during Democratic primaries and try to steer viewers in the Democratic nominees’ directions come election time. But believe it or not, even some Democrats are growing frustrated with this practice, as one New Hampshire primary voter noted earlier today while being interviewed by MSNBC’s Ari Melber.

During the segment, Melber, who hosts an afternoon program on the liberally biased news network, was walking around a restaurant asking New Hampshire voters who they voted for in today’s primary. He got more than he bargained for with one voter.

After inquiring of one woman at a nearby table as to who her candidate of choice was, she answered that she “voted for Bernie” while noting there were a number of other candidates she really liked and could have voted for. She said even after she voted she still felt undecided. After Melber suggested she was a “complex person”, the woman laughed before launching into why she made the choice to vote for Sanders over the rest:

VOTER: “Yes but I want to say the reason I went for Bernie is because of MSNBC. … The kind of the stock Bernie cynicism that I heard from a number of people – I watch MSNBC constantly so I heard that from a number of commentators and so that – it made me angry enough. I said ok, Bernie’s got my vote.”

MELBER: “This is such an interesting point. What you’re saying is, and we take criticism ’cause we’re journalists, we’ve got to be open-minded. You’re saying that hearing from people whether it’s guests, contributors, the conversations you’ve heard that you felt were designed to tear down Sen. Sanders or quote-unquote stop him, actually endeared him to you.”

VOTER: “Absolutely. Absolutely. I could have chosen several candidates, but that’s what pushed me over the edge for Bernie.”

Watch:

.@AriMelber talks to a voter who voted for Sanders "because of @MSNBC":

"It is completely cynical to say that he's lost 50% of his vote from the last time… "the kind of 'stop Bernie' cynicism that I heard… made me angry enough [to say] '[he's] got my vote.'" pic.twitter.com/5LpQtv4RQz

— The Beat with Ari Melber on MSNBC (@TheBeatWithAri) February 11, 2020

Though the woman blamed it on MSNBC “commentators”, the reality of life on MSNBC is that it’s not just political pundits on the network who give their biased opinions. It’s the journalists, too, which is a point new MSNBC anchor Joshua Johnson made to an annoyed Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” Sunday, as reported by Newsbusters’ Nicholas Fondacaro (bolded emphasis added):

Going further, Johnson shifted to discussing what the media’s role was in 2016. “So, one of the things I’m interested in seeing in 2020 is how much we will allow Democrats to make their own choice? The story of who the party is supposed to support is not up to us, it’s up to Democrats.” In the midst of saying that, he gestured to the people sitting around the table.

Todd, who often fights the losing battle of claiming there’s no such thing as media bias in favor of Democrats, didn’t seem pleased. He gave an annoyed sounding “yeah” to Johnson’s comments and a quick glimpse of his face seemed to confirm the tone.

As I’ve said before, it is not the media’s role to decide who nominees are in any primary, nor who the eventual winner of any election should be. The media’s job is to report the news without slant and let voters do the deciding when it comes time to cast their votes.

This New Hampshire voter, clearly not a militant “Bernie Bro”, nevertheless decided to pull the lever for him because she felt MSNBC was trying to make her decision for her, which is also something they do when attempting to discourage people from voting for Republicans, a tactic they employ far more often.

In spite of her illuminating answer, don’t hold your breath waiting on the network to make any changes to counter this criticism. After decades of failure, they’re still committed to being the de facto news network for the DNC, which is why over the years they’ve earned the nickname “MSDNC.”

(Hat tip: Twitchy)