Former MSNBC anchor Ed Schultz dead at 64

July 6 (UPI) -- Ed Schultz, a longtime radio personality, former MSNBC anchor and most recently the host of News with Ed on RT America, has died at the age of 64.

Schultz died Thursday at his home in Washington D.C., RT America reported with MSNBC noting on air that he died of natural causes.

"We are devastated by the news of the sudden death of our brilliant anchor, one of the best TV journalists in America, Ed Schultz," RT Editor in Chief Margarita Simonyan said in a statement.

"Ed was a brilliant and persistent voice for those without a voice in this country," Schultz's former colleague at MSNBC Dylan Ratigan said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

Schultz joined MSNBC in 2009 where he hosted The Ed Show until 2015. He then joined RT America in 2016 where he appeared on News with Ed, considered to be the flagship show on the network.

Schultz began as a conservative but then later became a liberal and was a champion of American workers.