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In a Bad Week for CNN, It Failed at Deportations, Pardons, Polling, and Defamation

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jan 22, 2025
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Theory Over Activity – CNN

  • Thank you, Abilio, for delivering the tagline for the rest of your career.

We introduce a new category for this column, as it appears we will be granted many examples of the press more outraged about what President Trump may do than when the Democrats actually do the very thing they are concerned about. We have seen plenty already, such as the claims Trump might arrest journalists, use the courts to target opponents, threaten the First Amendment, disregard the Constitution, etc.

With the general consensus out there that the impending CNN layoffs, which we may learn about tomorrow, will also involve scheduling changes, Jim Acosta is the most talked about, with the rumor being he is to be outcast to the post-midnight shift. That said, he appears to be yearning to leave from daytime with a roar.

He had on his show GOP Rep. Tim Burchett to discuss the Trump pardons, and things became testy between the two men. In asking if Trump should be responsible for any crimes committed by those pardoned, Burchett rightly turned to the former president and asked if he would be held responsible for crimes and deaths committed by immigrants allowed to enter the country. That was when a very bothered Acosta uttered a telling line:

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I’m not talking about Joe Biden.

No, you are not, Jim, that is correct. It has been your method for the past four years now, and it should serve as your permanent label for the rest of your career.

Pre-Written Field Reports – CNN

  • We are noting a uniform deflection at the network…

In nearly identical fashion, we see Wolf Blitzer – soon to be exiled to mornings on the network – battling with GOP Rep. John James over the January 6 pardons. After Wolf lied about police being killed that day, James pointed out that CNN had no similar concern when rioters from the Black Lives Matter Summer of Peace were not even brought to trial. Wolf was roundly bothered with this dose of reality and resorted to Acosta’s same dodge; “I’m asking you about January 6. I’m not asking about Black Lives Matter.” 

News Avoidance Syndrome – CNN

  • Yes, about that lack of spin…

Also in the conversation above, Acosta dared utter a completely impotent line that he was certain would be a viral moment when he told Rep. Burchett, “This is not Fox News Congressman, you can’t just spin a tale and pull wool over people’s eyes.” That he said this just after a jury decided his network practiced defamation, and did so with malice, is sheer hubris of the lowest order.

Yeah, about that defamation case…how much interest did CNN take in reporting on its massive exposure as a fake news outlet?! Hardly any interest at all. Here was the entirety of CNN’s commentary on this massive court decision:

CNN settled a lawsuit brought by a US Navy veteran over a 2021 segment on evacuations in Afghanistan on Friday, hours after a jury found the network liable for defaming him. The two-week trial was held in Bay County, Florida. A jury awarded the veteran, Zachary Young, $5 million in compensatory damages. Following the verdict, the two parties settled the case as the punitive damages phase was underway. The details of the settlement were not made public. “We remain proud of our journalists and are 100% committed to strong, fearless and fair-minded reporting at CNN, though we will of course take what useful lessons we can from this case,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement.

And that would be the entirety of the network’s coverage. The network made no mention whatsoever about the jury finding it liable for defamation, and the multiple network social media accounts had no other mention as well. CNN’s media maven Brian Stelter, amid an obsessive flurry of coverage about TikTok, only linked to the digital page with the 116-word mention of the defamation.

Prose & Contradiction – CNN

  • It is almost as if your network is out of touch with the country.

We are approaching the mindset that we are surprised that Harry Enten continues to have a job at CNN. We need to say, that is not an indictment of his work, at all. It is just that Enten manages to regularly come up with polling results and other details about the American public that defies the on-air messaging of his own network. 

The latest example has him addressing the issue of deporting illegals, something his colleagues seem to all be on the same page about in their opposition to the proposed actions of the new Trump administration. The only problem, as Enten shows with a number of polling results, is that Americans in a majority support the removal of those who have arrived illegally and prefer we curtail those coming into the country entirely. Huh, it’s almost as if this is a perfect example of why CNN is continuing to sink in the ratings.

Low-Octane Gaslighting – CNN

  • Who will criticize the man tasked with criticizing the media?

As we mentioned yesterday, Brian Stelter is back with his practiced behavior of only seeing things worthy of criticizing in the right-of-center media. Today, he singled out Megan Basham of The Daily Wire for a piece she wrote on coverage of the immigration issue. In his newsletter, Stelter said she was implying that people should blindly trust only Trump and those outlets that support him. 

He based this on what Brian called a “prediction” by Basham, except the expert newsman was blindly incorrect. Basham made no suggestion, and she was not predicting something, she was reporting on an email that had been found from Christianity Today where the outlet was trying to collect only positive stories about illegal immigrants and how that slants coverage on the topic.