On Fox, MRC's Graham criticized MSNBC for "adding this lesbian Air America radio host, Rachel Maddow" to its lineup

Summary: Asked on Fox & Friends about the "damage done" by having Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews anchor MSNBC's election coverage, the Media Research Center's Tim Graham responded, "Not only is the damage already done, the damage continues. I mean, not only are they keeping these people on for an hour a night, they're adding this lesbian Air America radio host, Rachel Maddow, on every night."

During the September 9 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Tim Graham about MSNBC's decision to replace Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews with David Gregory as news anchor during special election programming: "[I]s the damage done already? I mean, look, we're almost done with this thing. Fifty-something days left." Graham, director of media analysis for the conservative media watchdog group Media Research Center, responded: "Not only is the damage already done, the damage continues. I mean, not only are they keeping these people on for an hour a night, they're adding this lesbian Air America radio host, Rachel Maddow, on every night. So, I mean, they're really entrenching and solidifying a left-wing agenda on this network, not just, you know, pulling something back."

In a September 8 post on the MRC blog NewsBusters, Graham called Maddow a "radical-left lesbian hostess."

The Rachel Maddow Show debuted on MSNBC September 8.

From the September 9 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

ALISYN CAMEROTA (co-host): Meanwhile, MSNBC, as we've been reporting, has pulled Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from their election coverage, but now that the primaries and conventions are over, was this move too little, too late?

STEVE DOOCY (co-host): Actually, they are still involved with the election coverage --

CAMEROTA: As commentators.

DOOCY: Right, exactly. They're analysts. They are no longer sitting in the anchor chairs. Tim Graham is the director of media and analysis for the Media Research Center. He joins us from D.C. Good morning to you, Tim.

GRAHAM: Good morning.

DOOCY: Well, it looks -- we have known that they're -- this is your business. There is media bias in this nation, and they were perfect examples of how extreme the left has become on NBC, which some have referred to as the "National Barack Channel."

GRAHAM: Absolutely. I think this is one of those things. The idea to make these guys news anchors -- I don't know who came up with this idea. It's sort of like people who believe if you add water, you get sea monkeys. It just doesn't make any sense that you can add water and make an objective news anchor out of people who come on the air and tell the president to "shut the hell up" --

KILMEADE: Right. That's exactly --

GRAHAM: -- like Olbermann did.

KILMEADE: That's exactly what he said. But first -- but, Tim, is the damage done already? I mean, look, we're almost done with this thing. Fifty-something days left.

GRAHAM: Not only is the damage already done, the damage continues. I mean, not only are they keeping these people on for an hour a night, they're adding this lesbian Air America radio host, Rachel Maddow, on every night. So, I mean, they're really entrenching and solidifying a left-wing agenda on this network, not just, you know, pulling something back.

—A.J.W.