Well, folks, you won’t believe what’s gone down at CNN. Their already questionable coverage of the Trump “hush money” trial has turned into some sort of parallel reality sitcom. It makes you wonder if Jeffrey Toobin, infamous for not knowing where the off switch was during a Zoom call, is calling the shots over at CNN.
Just another regular day but with a twist on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip. It’s May 14, 2024, and brace yourself for a live spectacle: ‘dramatic readings’ of the trial transcripts. Elliot Williams, playing Todd Blanche, accuses Marcus Childress playing Michael Cohen, of calling President Trump a “Dictator Douche Bag”. No surprise there, Childress admits it sure sounds like his kind of language. He also brazenly admits to saying Trump belongs in a cage like an animal.
Then, the comic relief occurs, courtesy of Laura Coates and Abby Phillip. The duo criticizes Williams for not doing a New York accent. Everyone laughs. It’s as if no one remembers they’re covering a trial, not hosting a thinly veiled roast of the occupants of the opposite end of the political spectrum.
So, you’re telling me that these well-educated individuals with impressive careers under their belt, who have served in the Obama administration and on the House January 6th Committee, are now spouting off immature insults and half-baked comedy routines on live television? Somebody pinch me. We’ve seen them perform this circus act not once, but twice now, under the strangely misguided belief that this is quality TV. Or journalism, for that matter.
It’s only the leading opposition presidential candidate’s reputation at stake here, after all. If this is how they’ve decided to cover what they perceive to be a laughable trial with supposedly ludicrous charges, so be it. But don’t pretend it’s journalism.
What we’re witnessing on CNN (and MSNBC isn’t doing much better), isn’t journalism, folks. It’s nonstop tomfoolery masqueraded as a news program. In its obsession to keep the trial in the limelight, CNN’s coverage has gone from informative to embarrassing. It’s not journalism; it’s a low-budget reality show impersonating the esteemed platform of news media.
Conclusively, American news viewers deserve better. They tune in expecting unbiased reporting, not a comedy hour. And yet, here we are, witnessing half-baked reality TV at a time where serious journalism should be the order of the day. CNN, it’s time to get back to doing what you once did best: delivering news, not punchlines.
