MILWAUKEE MIRAGE: MSNBC Hosts Not Actually at RNC, Using LED Screen to Appear On Site

According to a New York Times, MSNBC hosts like Rachel Maddow aren’t actually in Milwaukee, Wisconsin covering the Republican National Convention — but they’re using LED screens to appear on site.

From The New York Times:

Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Jen Psaki, Joy Reid and the rest of MSNBC’s A-list anchor team have not been inside the convention hall. They were not even in Milwaukee.

Instead, they were broadcasting from a studio in Midtown Manhattan, as a live feed of the convention floor was projected onto an LED screen behind them.

The arrangement — which several veteran television news producers described as unorthodox — has created something of a trompe l’oeil effect. A casual glance at the screen would suggest that MSNBC’s top anchors were covering the convention in person.

“At the top of every broadcast, hosts identify themselves as being in New York or at MSNBC headquarters,” an MSNBC spokesman said on Wednesday.

X users reacted to the report, calling it “Cheap fakes for real” and more.