Will has been a regular guest on MSNBC shows since January after his Fox News contract wasn’t renewed. He officially joins the network ― strongly associated with outspoken progressive personalities like Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes ― as it faces scrutiny for recently veering in a more conservative direction.
MSNBC and NBC News chairman Andy Lack has been targeting progressive programming since 2015, as part of a “plan to move the cable news network away from its bedrock liberalism and toward a more centrist approach personified by Brian Williams,” HuffPost’s Ryan Grim reported this month.
Will has faced criticism ― including in his own paper ― for his arguments downplaying the seriousness of climate change. It’s unclear how those views will be received at NBC, but a similar scenario has caused major blowback at The New York Times, with readers canceling subscriptions after the paper hired conservative columnist and “climate agnostic” Bret Stephens last month.
Will has also written skeptically about “the supposed campus epidemic of rape,” suggesting in a 2014 column that statistics on campus sexual assault are overinflated and describing “victimhood” as “a coveted status that confers privileges.” The column attracted widespread backlash.
More recently, Will has been strongly critical of Donald Trump, first as a candidate and then as a president. Last June, he changed his voter registration from Republican to “unaffiliated,” declaring that the GOP lining up behind Trump “is not my party.”
Earlier this month, Will offered a scathing critique of Trump’s “disability,” writing in The Washington Post that the president has “an untrained mind bereft of information and married to stratospheric self-confidence.”
The dislike appears to be mutual: Trump called Will a “major loser” last year and a “political moron” back in 2012.
Also on HuffPost
President Donald Trump raises his fist to the crowds during his inauguration after he was sworn in as the 45th president on Jan. 20, 2017.
Attendees line the Mall as they watch ceremonies to swear in Trump on Inauguration Day.
Demonstrators protest on the National Mall during the Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21, 2017.
Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 23, 2017.
Trump takes the cap off a pen to sign an executive order to start the Mexico border wall project at the Department of Homeland Security facility in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 25, 2017.
Trump salutes as he steps off Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland upon his return from Philadelphia on Jan. 26, 2017.
Trump, seen through an Oval Office window, gives a thumbs-up as he speaks on the phone to King Salman of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 29, 2017.
Trump and his daughter Ivanka walk to board Marine One at the White House on Feb. 1, 2017.
Trump, right, shakes hands with Rex Tillerson, left, as Tillerson's wife, Renda St. Clair, looks on after Tillerson was sworn in as secretary of state in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 1, 2017.
Trump jokes with reporters after greeting Harley-Davidson executives and union representatives on the South Lawn of the White House on Feb. 2, 2017, prior to a luncheon with them.
Trump pauses as he talks to journalists who are members of the White house travel pool onboard Air Force One during his flight to Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 3, 2017.
Trump watches as Vice President Mike Pence, right, swears in Jeff Sessions, left, as U.S. attorney general while his wife, Mary Sessions, holds the Bible in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 9, 2017.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, shakes hands with Trump during their meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 10, 2017.
Abe, right, and Trump are seen in the presidential limousine as they depart from Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 11, 2017.
Trump speaks to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan after signing House Joint Resolution 41, which removes some Dodd-Frank regulations on oil and gas companies, during a bill signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 14, 2017.
Donald Trump, right, and first lady Melania Trump, left, greet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, as they arrive at the South Portico of the White House in Washington on Feb. 15, 2017.
Trump takes questions from reporters during a lengthy news conference at the White House on Feb. 16, 2017.
Trump applauds his crowd as he holds a "Make America Great Again" rally at Orlando Melbourne International Airport in Melbourne, Florida, on Feb. 18, 2017.
Trump shakes hands with his new national security adviser, Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, after making the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 20, 2017.
Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway, left, checks her phone after taking a photo as Trump and leaders of historically black universities and colleges pose for a group photo in the Oval Office of the White House before a meeting with Pence on Feb. 27, 2017.
Trump holds up a pen after signing an executive order about historically black colleges and universities in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 28, 2017.
Trump addresses a joint session of Congress on Feb. 28, 2017.
Trump delivers remarks to Congress on Feb. 28, 2017.
Trump tours the pre-commissioned U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding facilities in Newport News, Virginia, on March 2, 2017.
Joseph Kushner holds up a toy Marine One as his grandfather, Donald Trump, holds hands with him and his sister Arabella as they depart aboard Marine One from the White House in Washington on March 3, 2017.
Trump, son Barron and wife Melania step off Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 17, 2017.
Trump attends a meeting about health care in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on March 13, 2017.
Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet in the Oval Office of the White House on March 17, 2017.
Trump reacts as he sits on a truck while he welcomes truckers and CEOs to attend a meeting regarding health care at the White House on March 23, 2017.
Trump talks to journalists at the Oval Office of the White House after the American Health Care Act was pulled before a vote. He is accompanied by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, left, and Pence.
Trump listens during a meeting with women small-business owners in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 27, 2017.
DJ Gribbin, special assistant to the president for infrastructure policy, holds up a chart showing the regulatory steps to build a highway as Trump holds the mic during a CEO town hall on the American business climate at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C.
Trump, left, and Jordan's King Abdullah II leave after a joint news conference in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 5, 2017.
Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6, 2017.
Trump receives a briefing on the Syria military strike from his national security team including a video teleconference with Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford on April 6, 2017, in a secured location at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
Affluent Americans may want to double-check how much of their bank deposits are protected by government-backed insurance. The rules governing trust accounts just changed.
Former NBA guard Darius Morris has died at the age of 33. He played for five teams during his four NBA seasons. Morris played college basketball at Michigan.
Budgeting apps can help you keep track of your finances, stick to a spending plan and reach your money goals. These are the best budget-tracking apps available right now.
Ohtani tagged Braves ace Max Fried for a two-run shot in the first inning, then hit a solo shot in the eighth as the Dodgers prevailed in a battle of NL favorites.
