A Wake to Remember: MSNBC Bids Farewell to Its Dying Audience
What we saw at the MSNBC Live '25 festival, the most enlightening and overpriced event since the Kamala Harris book tour
MSNBC Live
Andrew Stiles and Jameson Mitrovich
October 20, 2025
The Hammerstein Ballroom in midtown Manhattan hums with the sound of walkers, canes, and Medicare-approved stability sneakers shuffling on the brocade carpet. Several busloads worth of gray-haired radicals are milling about the historic auditorium. Some have shelled out thousands of dollars to be here for a chance to see their favorite MSNBC personalities denounce Donald Trump in person. Liquor drinks are extra. The exorbitantly priced bar opens at 10:30 a.m. We're going to need it.
"MSNBC Live '25: This Is Who We Are" is the failing left-wing network's second live offering in as many years. Last year's event was largely focused on how to stop Trump from winning the election and canceling democracy. This year's summit is even more existential, if you can believe it. Two weeks after Trump's decisive victory in 2024, MSNBC parent company Comcast announced it was cutting ties with the network. It will soon be required to ditch its NBC affiliation and rebrand as MS NOW (My Source for News, Opinion, and the World). The name change becomes official next month, but they've kept the old one so as not to confuse their elderly fans.
Other aspects of the event planning—spearheaded by Luke Russert, the boy-faced nepo baby—were less accommodating to a demographic that hates inconvenience and loves to complain. More than a few mobility-challenged attendees griped about having to walk down a flight of stairs to use the bathroom. Ushers were overheard discussing how to minimize injuries.
https://freebeacon.com/media/a-wake-to-remember-msnbc-bids-farewell-to-its-dying-audience/
