Jon Meacham 'abandoned' rules of journalism as the secret Biden speechwriter on MSNBC's payroll, experts say

Jon Meacham was always upfront with his support for Joe Biden during the election, but the once widely-respected journalist and presidential historian appeared to have a significant lapse in judgment after he failed to disclose to his employers at MSNBC that he was serving as a speechwriter for the president-elect. 

"In a year of media shocks, this was not one. Anyone who's tuned into 'Morning Joe' over the last year already knows that Meacham's 'analysis' sounds no different than what you'd expect from a Biden campaign' spokesperson, Tom Elliott, the founder and news editor of the media company Grabien told Fox News. 

The New York Times reported on Monday that according to sources, Meacham had been "playing a larger role than was previously known" behind the scenes. He was "writing drafts of speeches and offering edits on many of Mr. Biden’s big addresses, including one he gave at Gettysburg last month and his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention." 

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But perhaps the most jarring revelation about the MSNBC contributor was that Meacham was invited on-air Saturday night and praised the victory speech Biden gave, a speech Meacham himself wrote and didn't disclose to MSNBC anchor Brian Williams. 

“I’m not the historian that you are, and I don’t have the Pulitzer that you do, but do you concur that is the way we are used to hearing from our presidents?” Williams asked. 

“Absolutely,” Meacham answered. 

The Times also reported that Meacham would no longer be on MSNBC's payroll but he would still be welcomed to the network as a guest.

MSNBC has yet to publicly address the controversy and did not respond to Fox News' request for comment, something NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck called "truly pathetic."

"Instead of coming forward and admitting to what happened, they've left it to the Times to report it and bury the part about Meacham reportedly no longer being paid by the network," Houck told Fox News. "However, none of this has been surprising. After all, we're dealing with the network that still employs scandal-plagued individuals like Joy Reid and Brian Williams." 

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Houck knocked the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, noting that someone like the former editor-in-chief of Newsweek "should have known better."

"It certainly calls into question his journalistic bona fides, but that's just me," Houck added. 

Meacham publicly endorsed Biden in March and was invited to speak at this year's DNC convention, but Cornell Law School professor and media critic William A. Jacobson called his departure from MSNBC "poetic justice" after the historian referred to Trump supporters last month as "anguished" White guys with "lizard brain."

"Such non-disclosure apparently was too much even for MSNBC, and Meacham is the one who looks like a lizard now," Jacobson told Fox News. 

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Meacham wasn't the only MSNBC analyst who was shown the door this week. On Tuesday, The Daily Beast reported that the liberal network cut ties with two additional contributors, Barbara McQuade and Richard Stengel, who were both announced as members of Biden's transition team. 

"I'm not surprised as this was the year journalists abandoned all of the usual rules governing their profession in a naked attempt at shepherding Biden across the finish line," Grabien's Elliott told Fox News. "Meacham probably looked at his colleagues’ conduct and thought his actions fit right in."