WASHINGTON — MSNBC President Phil Griffin fired an employee and personally apologized after the network sent out an “outrageous and unacceptable” tweet suggesting conservatives wouldn’t like a Cheerios TV ad because it featured a multiracial family.
The ad, which will air during the Super Bowl, shows cute 6-year old Grace Colbert haggling with her parents over breakfast, pleading to get a puppy. Her mother in the ad is white, her father black.
“Maybe the rightwing will hate it, but everyone else will go awwww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family,” MSNBC tweeted Wednesday night.
On Thursday morning, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, demanded an apology — which came quickly.
“We immediately acknowledged that it was offensive and wrong, apologized, and deleted it,” Griffin said. “We have dismissed the person responsible for the tweet.”