CNN President Slams Fox News
CNN President Jeff Zucker slammed Fox News Saturday at the at the South by Southwest Festival, The Hill reports.
Zucker described the conservative network as a “propaganda outlet,” defending the Democratic Party’s decision to not allow Fox News to host a primary debate. According to Zucker, the Democratic National Committee has “no obligation” to allow any of the major cable networks to host a debate, CNN included.
“I think the consternation about this is a little misplaced. They don’t have to give one to CNN, they don’t have to give one to NBC. They have no obligation to give one to Fox,” he said.
The Democratic National Committee, as the New York Post reported, rejected a request from Fox News to televise its presidential primary debates due to alleged connections between President Donald Trump and the conservative network. DNC Chair Tom Perez cited a New Yorker article, which describes Fox News as Donald Trump’s propaganda machine, as the main reason for the rejection.
“Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and Fox News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates,” he said.
Echoing Tom Perez, CNN President Jeff Zucker suggested that the real question pertaining to the relationship between Donald Trump’s White House and Fox News is, “Is Fox state-run TV or is the White House state-run government by Fox TV?”
Fox News senior vice president and Managing Editor Bill Sammon criticized the DNC’s move, praising Fox News’ journalists and pointing out that the network has high viewership. But according to CNN President Jeff Zucker, the journalists and anchors Bill Sammon praised “work at a place that has done tremendous damage to this country.”
Indeed a lot has been written about the seemingly mutually-beneficial relationship between President Trump and Fox News. Known to be an avid watcher of many of the cable network’s shows, Trump often takes to Twitter to quote its most popular anchors and pundits, and praise their reporting.
Elizabeth Warren: I Understand Why DNC Would Pull Debates from 'Propaganda Machine' Fox News https://t.co/YMNQoqkQ5v pic.twitter.com/HwBmdvr7RH
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) March 9, 2019
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, some analyses have found that Donald Trump and Fox News operate in synergy and coordination, with the president sometimes live-tweeting the network’s coverage, and at other times directly repeating his favorite hosts’ talking points.
As CBS News noted, many former Fox News employees have been hired by President Trump. National Security Adviser John Bolton, White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp, Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, to name a few, are all former Fox News employees currently serving in the Trump administration.
