Posted on December 13, 2013

Fireworks: Reporter Confronts Ed Schultz Over Taking Union Money, Ignoring NBC Workers

Mike Elk, a reporter who covers news relating to organized labor, called in on Thursday's broadcast of Ed Schultz's radio show to confront him over his criticism and lack of support for NBC employees seeking to unionize. Schultz exploded on the reporter and accused him of having "employment envy" and "income envy."



Salon reports:





On his Thursday afternoon national radio show, Schultz defended himself and critiqued his critics. At the start of his three-hour show (not affiliated with MSNBC), he told listeners they could call in if “you want to talk to me directly. Maybe you’ve seen something in the Twitter world that … you’re not really sure about …” He said he was “not gonna punch down,” and that he had “always supported people when it comes to collective bargaining” and “never wavered one bit ever.”



Then Schultz said, “If you’ve got issues or you’d like to call me on something, this is the format – you’re not gonna see me on anybody else’s television show, you’re not gonna hear me on anybody’s else’s radio show – I have plenty to do.” He said there were “a lot of things out there that people don’t know what the hell they’re talking about,” and that he couldn’t “clear the breach with one phone call” or “one returned tweet,” but “I can be here consistently to give you a real sense of who I am, what I believe in, and cutting right to the chase.”



“And so that’s where I’m going to leave all the nastiness that is out there,” Schultz went on, “and I’m not going to lower myself to people who just have got employment envy, income envy, exposure envy, platform envy.” He warned that “there are going to be minions out there that are going to twist and turn and spin and have expectations without going to the source.” Schultz then turned to the phones (“very seldom do I take calls in the very first segment,” he noted, “but I’m willing to do that today”). After indicating no calls immediately arrived, Schultz said sarcastically, “You mean they don’t want to take on Big Eddie here? I mean, I just find that hard to believe.”