Political pundit and broadcaster Ed Schultz dead at 64

Former MSNBC host and liberal commentator Ed Schultz has passed away due to natural causes. He was 64.

Russian-backed television network RT America, where Schultz hosted a show, released a statement on Thursday, saying: "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."

RT America editor in chief Margarita Simonyan added, "We are devastated by the news of the sudden death of our brilliant anchor, one of the best TV-Journalists in America, Ed Schultz."

Schultz got his start in broadcast media as a sportscaster in Fargo, North Dakota, in the 1980s. But after he eventually established himself as a conservative political pundit, he changed his views and became a champion of liberal causes.

During an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2004, he referred to himself as "a gun-toting, meat-eating lefty."

Schultz said that meeting homeless people in a soup kitchen was a turning point for him in the late 1990s, and caused him to direct his focus more to the plight of the struggling American worker.

From 2009 to 2015, Schultz hosted "The Ed Show" on MSNBC — for which he was best known — before starting his RT America spot in 2016.

In 2017, RT America was required to register as a foreign agent. Schultz reportedly said at the time, "Let them call me what they want, I am going to speak the truth no matter what."

RT America news director Mikhail Solodovnikov said of Schultz in a statement, "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."