Twitter lights up suggesting Shep Smith as Chris Matthews’ replacement

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After Chris Matthews‘ surprise announcement that he’s “retiring” following a rough period of negative PR, Shepard Smith’s name began circulating on Twitter as a possible replacement.

It’s important to note there’s no confirmation that Smith has even met with MSNBC, NBC or any other network — or that he’s even necessarily looking for another job in TV.

There’s certainly no news that he’s signed a deal with MSNBC or any other broadcaster.

In addition, reports after Smith’s own surprise departure from Fox in October 2019, indicated that, in exchange for being let out of his contract early, he had agreed to a longer non-compete clause that would presumably prohibit him from joining MSNBC or any other popular broadcaster for a period of time — possibly a year or more.

Smith had just re-signed a deal with Fox in 2018.

During his time at Fox, Smith was noted by many for being more subjective in his reporting on a network that’s otherwise filled by what some media watchers viewed as highly opinionated commentary and biased reporting.

That led to speculation that Smith was unhappy at Fox and would look to join another news organization once he can.