MSNBC's truth trio fights misinformation in 'The Weekend'

Against this Orwellian backdrop,MSNBC is betting on something radical: the truth. And the media company is putting it in the hands of three people who know how to wield it.

Jonathan Capehart, 56, Eugene Daniels, 35, and Jackie Alemany, 39, are about to become the most talked-about trio in political television. On Saturday they take the reins of The Weekend, MSNBC’s flagship Saturday and Sunday morning show, broadcasting live from the network’s newly muscular Washington bureau. The show’s expansion to three hours is no accident. Neither is its lineup. The show will make history as the first time that two out gay Black men host a national television program.

Related: MSNBC revamps weekend morning show with two prominent Black gay men as cohosts

“The mission of the show is the mission of journalism,” Capehart told The Advocate. “To tell the story, report the story without fear or favor.” He emphasized the importance of truth: “Our perspectives are grounded in our individual reporting but also in the facts.”

Alemany echoed that expectation, saying she hopes viewers will “learn something new” every weekend, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and fearlessness in journalism. “Sometimes it’s the ‘dumb question’ that gets the most revealing answer,” she said, recalling advice from her early mentor, CBS News anchor Bob Schieffer. Alemany explained that asking the question others might be too self-conscious to pose often leads to the most candid, insightful responses — a principle she believes will be central to the show’s success.

The Weekend 's new lineup debuts as MSNBC undergoes its most significant transformation in years. Under President Rebecca Kutler, the network is carving out a more independent identity as it finalizes a formal split from NBCUniversal News Group into a standa-lone entity known internally as “SpinCo.” The network has expanded programs like The Weekend and launched new shows, including The Weeknight With Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele, Alicia Menendez, and The Briefing With Jen Psaki. Ratings are up — prime-time viewership has nearly doubled since the inauguration, and weekends have topped CNN for 16 straight months.

The momentum follows internal backlash over the cancellation of shows led by nonwhite hosts, including The ReidOut, Alex Wagner Tonight, and Katie Phang’s weekend slot. In February, Rachel Maddow, the network's most prominent anchor, called the shake-up “indefensible,” describing the layoffs as “a bloodbath” that blindsided staff.

Now, a new team takes the studio set, and with it comes a ton of responsibility. Daniels stressed their shared approach. “The people who watch our show should be ready for any eventuality,” he said. “They should have been introduced to the people on the ground doing the work.” The goal is for viewers to wake up the morning after an election and not be surprised by the results. “I want people watching to say, ‘Well, Eugene and Jackie did say that could happen,’” he said.

But how do you cover an administration that wields attention like a weapon?

“Covering this administration is an exercise in priorities,” Alemany said. “We zoom in on what we think is the most important and stay away from the shiny bright objects.”

Related: HRC honors Jonathan Capehart, Ina Fried, and Nico Lang for LGBTQ+ journalism that breaks through the noise

“What is the left hand doing while the right hand is over here shaking something?” Daniels asked, describing how the team plans to look beyond the headline-grabbing moments to uncover the more in-depth, often overlooked impacts on people’s lives.

Daniels explained that the show will focus on what powerful actors are doing behind the scenes rather than chasing spectacle while public attention is distracted elsewhere. “It’s about making sure viewers understand not just what is loud and flashy but what will actually affect their groceries, their mortgages, their rights, their futures,” he said. “We want to pull back the curtain and show people the full picture, not just the shiny object everyone is pointing at.”

All three of the relaunched show’s anchors bring serious credentials. Capehart, who has hosted MSNBC’s The Saturday/Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehartsince 2020, is a Pulitzer Prize winner and associate editor at The Washington Post, where he also hosts the podcasts Capehart and First Look. He’s a political analyst on PBS NewsHour, regularly appearing on the “Brooks and Capehart” segment. Capehart, who won a GLAAD Media Award in 2022 for his MSNBC special Pride of the White House, and Daniels represent a kind of visibility the media advocacy group’s president and CEO called “essential.”

Daniels is MSNBC’s senior Washington correspondent. A former White House reporter for Politico, he has interviewed a range of political figures, including then–Vice President Kamala Harris.

Alemany, also a Pulitzer Prize winner, covered Congress and the White House for The Washington Post. There, she led coverage of Trump-era investigations and broke major stories on the January 6 insurrection and classified documents. She’s a Harvard graduate and former captain of the women’s basketball team, and she was honored as Outstanding Journalist in Print at the 2023 Washington Women in Journalism Awards.

The three bring not just synergy but substance. Being three print veterans, Capehart said, makes a difference: “People in print know how to think and know how to write.” Writing, he said, builds “the discipline to listen,” to “analyze,” and to “get to the nub of the issue.”

The journalists’ chemistry off-camera is equally strong, marked by a genuine camaraderie that radiated throughout their interview with The Advocate. They joked about everything from the bonnets Daniels wears to protect his hair and love for GoPuff snacks to Capehart’s surprising athleticism, including his ability to perform cheerleader-style jumps. “I can do that too,” Capehart quipped as Daniels listed his talents, laughing about an impromptu leap captured ahead of their Advocate photo shoot. Daniels and Alemany teased Capehart with mock awe at his unexpected agility, while Alemany joked that she would stick to her self-described role as the “designated hype woman.” It’s this easy banter that promises to bring depth and a refreshing authenticity to their time on air together.

Yet beneath the playfulness runs a profound sense of purpose. “I can wear whatever the hell I want and put nail polish on and a little bit of a heel every once in a while because of people like Jonathan,” Daniels said, his voice catching at one point. Daniels called Capehart his “hero,” sharing that early in his career, when he was searching for a role model who embodied both professional excellence and realness, he chose Capehart. “He finds different ways to tell stories — live events, podcasts, hosting, writing, guest appearances — and he does it all while being true to himself,” Daniels said. “For a long time, he has been a hero of mine, and now I get to work with him this closely and break this little wall down together.”

Last weekend, Daniels presided over the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner as president of the WHCA — another first for an out gay Black man. Ahead of the annual affair, he took a lot of heat for announcing that the board had voted to scrap the traditional comedian segment and canceled queer funnywoman Amber Ruffin’s hosting gig.

In a Washington under siege, where Trump again skipped the dinner and celebrities stayed away, Daniels reminded a stripped-down crowd of journalists that their work remained vital. “It’s just us,” he said from the podium. “What we are not is the opposition. What we are not is the enemy of the people. And what we are not is the enemy of the state.”

Related: Amber Ruffin calls out White House Correspondents’ Dinner firing in hilarious ‘Late Night’ surprise appearance

MSNBC notes that Daniels’s role with the WHCA is separate from his reporting and anchoring duties. Often dubbed “nerd prom,” the dinner has become a surreal blend of journalism and celebrity, where Washington’s most ink-stained insiders swap their notebooks for tuxedos. The nickname stuck as the once-staid affair morphed into a red-carpet spectacle that blurs the line between press freedom and pop culture.

As part of “nerd prom” week, Capehart was honored with an award at the Human Rights Campaign’s Guardians of Truth Awards, while Daniels received Voto Latino’s Truth in Journalism Award.

“Capehart and Daniels are outstanding journalists to hold the powerful to account and to lead the essential and urgent conversations about issues important to communities that they come from,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis told The Advocate. “The leadership of Black and LGBTQ journalists in high-profile media outlets is of paramount importance at this moment when freedom of the press is at risk, accurate information is being censored, and voices of marginalized community members are being silenced.”

Capehart reflected on the long arc of change and what stepping into this historic moment means.

“When I came out to my mother, the first thing she said to me was ‘Don’t tell anybody,’” he recalled of the day in 1990. “We always lived with that fear that being gay would hold us back.” Fear once shadowed every opportunity and career decision, he said. Today, standing alongside Daniels and Alemany, Capehart, who writes intimately about his life in his memoir Yet Here I Am: Lessons From a Black Man’s Search for Home, which comes out May 20, said he feels a sense of pride and responsibility to live openly and lead by example. “What once was a source of fear,” he said, “is now a source of strength and a reminder of how far we’ve come — and how much further we can go.”

Related: Rachel Maddow rattles off how people ‘disapprove’ of Trump’s chaotic, dark & failing first 100 days

That reminder came into focus over a recent meal. During a dinner at Washington’s storied Cosmos Club, Capehart had looked across the table at Daniels and said, “Do you understand the history we are about to make? We’re going to be the first two out gay Black men to cohost a national television show. Holy smokes.”

There are also coincidences among the trio of journalists that are too perfect to script. Both men are married to white men from the Dakotas — Daniels’s husband from South Dakota, Capehart’s from North Dakota. Alemany is also married to a North Dakotan. “It’s almost too symmetrical,” Capehart said.

Each anchor brings a distinct focus on stories about real people and the consequences of federal policy decisions. Alemany, deeply influenced by her sister’s cerebral palsy, said she is “ravenous for coverage” of disability rights. She also highlighted the Trump administration’s pro-natalist policy initiatives, warning they aim to “fundamentally change American life and American families.”

Daniels pointed to the lived consequences of Washington’s decisions, sharing the story of his husband’s family’s South Dakota ranch, where tariffs and economic shifts have forced “never-take-a-handout cowboys” to accept federal subsidies for the first time.

Capehart stressed the necessity of viewing politics through the lens of race. “We should be clear on whose birth rates the Trump administration is trying to pump up,” he said. “The time for tiptoeing is over.”

But despite the gravity of the moment, when American democracy is at stake, the hosts plan to bring lightness to the screen too. “The three of us really like each other,” Daniels said. Their camaraderie, he explained, is not just for behind the scenes but is something they hope will translate directly to viewers, creating an environment that feels inviting even amid tough conversations. “You can talk about very heavy topics while also bringing joy into people’s lives,” Daniels added.

They all agree that the weekend show is more than just another newscast. It is a statement about resilience, inclusion, and refusing to let cynicism win.

In an era of noise and spectacle, The Weekend promises something rare: journalism rooted in rigor, fueled by joy, and true to the people it serves.

“We’re going to give people something they find sustaining,” Capehart said.

The Weekend with Capehart, Daniels and Alemany premieres Saturday and will air weekends from 7 to 10 a.m. Eastern on MSNBC.