Mehdi Hasan, a former host on MSNBC, declared on Friday that his new media venture will tackle former President Trump’s legal challenges in a way that differs from traditional media coverage. “We will cease pretending this is merely a legal issue,” Hasan stated during an interview on NewsNation’s “Cuomo” on Friday evening.
Hasan remarked to host Chris Cuomo, “You and I have both spent considerable time in cable news, with you having more experience than I do. There are many excellent legal analysts and prosecutors featured on air, several of whom I count as friends. However, framing this situation as a legal story is misguided.”
His new company, “Zeteo,” aims to engage progressive audiences by seeking “answers to the questions that truly matter, while always striving for the truth,” as outlined on the company’s Substack page.
He emphasized that the recent Supreme Court decision to consider whether former President Trump can face criminal charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election should be viewed as a “political story,” rather than a legal one.
“This Supreme Court, which has a conservative supermajority, may have two illegitimate appointments, with three justices chosen by the individual whose case they will decide, and one of those justices has a wife implicated in the coup attempt,” Hasan said, referencing Ginny Thomas, the spouse of Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been scrutinized for her potential involvement in the events leading up to the January 6, 2021, riots.
“That is fundamentally a political story,” he continued. “These are justices with political ties, not impartial judges. That’s one way I intend to cover this story differently.” In a recent conversation with The Washington Post, Hasan revealed that he has secured $4 million for his new initiative.
“This is shaping up to be one of the most remarkable news years of our lives, which is why I wanted to begin on a project like this,” he expressed to the Post. “I’m not a businessman or an entrepreneur; I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s quite a leap of faith.”
He explained on Friday that this new venture would enable him to be his “own boss,” highlighting this independence as an advantage following his departure from MSNBC. His exit was prompted by the network’s decision to cancel his late-night opinion talk show last year.
