Screengrab via RT America
Ed Schultz, the former MSNBC and Russia Today host, has died at the age of 64 from natural causes at his home in Washington D.C. WDAY was the first report Schultz’s death on July 5. The station mentions that prior becoming a national broadcaster, Schultz had been the sports director at WDAY. His professional career began in Fargo, North Dakota, in the 1980s.
An RT America statement on Schultz’s passing said, “We at RT America are sad to announce the passing of Edward Andrew Schultz. Ed Schultz passed quietly early morning on July 5 at his home in Washington, D.C. This announcement comes as a shock to all of us here at RT America.” Schultz is survived by his wife, Wendy Noack, and his six children. RT America News Director Mikhail Solodovnikov elaborated on the original Russia Today statement by saying, “He was a big-time professional and a tough fighter. Between us I always called him a ‘gladiator.’ He would never give up; he was always a winner. He was tough on a lot of young journalists in RT America’s newsroom; he was a mentor to a few.”
The West Central Tribune’s report on Schultz’s death mentions that in his youth he was a quarterback for Minnesota State University Moorhead. Schultz was a native of Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up in Larchmont. He graduated from Maury High School before moving west to attend Minnesota State. A friend of Schultz’s told the Virginian-Pilot in 2004 that Schultz wasn’t a natural athlete but was “a grinder. He was real driven. He always had an idea he was going to be somebody, and he’d work as hard as it took to get there.”
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Schultz Moved to Russia Today in 2016 Where He Praised Trump & Criticized Hillary Clinton
Schultz hosted MSNBC’s The Ed Show from April 2009 until July 2015. Later, Schultz suggested that he was fired because of his support for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Senator Sanders said in a statement at the time of Schultz’s firing that he was “disappointed” by MSNBC’s actions.
During his time on the network, a Columbia Journalism Review article said that Schultz regularly took a private jet from his home in rural Minnesota to New York City. After leaving MSNBC, Schultz hosted his own podcast before joining Russia Today, aka RT America, to host, The News with Ed Schultz. At the time of his move to the Russian state funded network, the Washington Post wrote an article titled, “How Ed Schultz transformed from MSNBC lefty to the American face of Moscow media.” The article mentioned one broadcast where Schultz made reference to the Russian hacking of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Schultz is quoted as saying that the hacking “has become a lifeline for Clinton supporters in an effort to reverse the outcome of the election… In the meantime, the story has entered the arena of outrageous.”
2. Schultz Said that Putin Is Viewed as a ‘Progressive Democrat’ in Russia
At the time of his move to RT America, Schultz told the Fargo-Moorhead In Forum, “I’m back in prime-time at 8 o’clock where I belong… This is a great career opportunity. It’s an international news organization that functions on all continents. It’s something that I have never had the opportunity to do, and that’s anchor a nightly news program.” When asked about his previous criticisms of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Schultz told the newspaper, “Nobody is going to tell Ed Schultz what to say… I could have retired. That’s not Ed Schultz; I’m not ready to do that. I got a lot of tire left. I have a lot of desire. This gives me a chance to do something that I haven’t had an opportunity to do in my career.”
In April 2018, Schultz told the National Review that Vladimir Putin was “viewed as a progressive Democrat” in Russia. He went on to say that his criticisms of Putin “might have been overboard.” Schultz continued, “I think the United States has a nasty human-rights record. I do think that every major super power on the globe has a very poor record on human rights.” A New Republic report on Schultz’s appearances on RT America said that the former MSNBC host praised Trump regularly and attempted to “downplay” Russian hacking in the U.S. elections.
3. Schultz Attributed His Relationship With His Wife as a Major Reason Behind His Political Shift From Right to Left
Schultz has described his move from being a conservative to a liberal in the 1990’s due to his relationship with his wife, Wendy Noack. She had been working as a psychiatric nurse and had been running a homeless shelter in North Dakota. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, Noack insisted that Schultz meet her at a soup kitchen on their first date. She introduced him to veterans and other homeless people and showed him how difficult it was for people receive adequate mental healthcare. In 2000, Schultz registered as a Democrat. Schultz had said in the past that he is a gun owner and so are his sons but that he supports some gun control measures. On Roe v Wade, Schultz said, “Now, as far as abortion is concerned, in my heart I’m a Christian. I’m against it. But we’re livin’ in a country where the majority rule and I’m not, as a talk show host, overturning Roe v Wade.”
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Schultz married Wendy Noack in 1998. In 2013, Schultz announced that his wife was cancer free after a seven month-long battle with Ovarian cancer. Schultz was previously married to Maureen Zimmerman, the couple divorced in 1993.
4. During His Play-by-Play Sports Career, Schultz Once Attacked Someone Who Threw a Bottle of Southern Comfort at Him
Screengrab via MSNBC
In 1982, Schultz was the play-by-play announcer for North Dakota State University football games. He was suspended from the role after he attacked a fan who had thrown a bottle of Southern Comfort at him. Schultz told Esquire about the incident in 2004 saying his reaction to the throwing was, “Who the f*** did that? Who has the guts to point him out? Because I’m coming after him.” Schultz said he never found the culprit and despite his suspension, he “made the honest move.”
Schultz would leave his role in 1996 to work for KFGO in Fargo. Starting in 1992, Schultz had begun his political radio talkshow. In 2003, Schultz left his sports casting role to concentrate on his political radio work. At that time, Schultz told the Los Angeles Times that he “lined up with the Republicans because t hey were anti-tax and I wanted to make a lot money.” That Los Angeles Times piece quotes Schultz as once saying, “I’d like to see the president get all the illegals out of the country, so we can start all over again.”
5. Infamously, Schultz Was Once Suspended for Calling Conservative Laura Ingraham a ‘S***’
In 2011, Schultz was suspended by MSNBC for calling conservative commentator Laura Ingraham a “s***” on his radio show. Schultz issued an apology saying, “On my radio show yesterday I used vile and inappropriate language when talking about talk show host Laura Ingraham. I am deeply sorry and I apologize. It was wrong, uncalled-for and I recognize the severity of what I said. I apologize to you, Laura, and ask for your forgiveness. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances were. It doesn’t matter that it was on radio and I was ad-libbing. None of that matters. None of that matters. What matters is is what I said was terribly vile and not of the standards that I or any other person should adhere to. I want all of you to know tonight that I did call Laura Ingraham today and did not make contact with her and I will apologize to her as I did in the message I left her today.”
Ingraham responded to Schultz on her Facebook page writing, “Re. the crude comments made about me by Ed Schultz on his radio program: First, I was surprised to learn that Ed Schultz actually hosted a radio show. Is it only available online? Second, I have to get back to recording the audio edition of my new book “Of Thee I Zing.” Now I’m tempted to insert one additional zing–about men who preach civility but practice misogyny.” Ingraham later confirmed that she had accepted Schultz’s apology.