During Monday’s New Day, the partisan CNN took a break from their rhetoric assaults against President Trump to wax poetic about Tony Blinken being named as Joe Biden’s pick for Secretary of State. Throughout the three hour broadcast, co-hosts Alisyn Camerota and John Berman gushed over Blinken’s experience and what Biden’s foreign policy might be. Naturally, they missed one major plot point in that Blinken used to work for CNN as a global affairs analyst.
For those that may remember, reporters and media figures routinely left news organizations to work in the Obama administration. Overall, the revolving door has been a near-frequent feature between the media and particularly Democratic administrations with prominent names like George Stephanopoulos and several other operatives moving between the media and the administrations. It looks like Blinken is the latest.
This did not stop the partisan network from praising their former colleague. Berman boasted: “[T]he Biden team seems to be sending two messages. They sent from the beginning, consistently, which is what they're looking for is experience, unquestioned experience. You can't dispute that Tony Blinken was deputy Secretary of State.”
CNN’s Biden correspondent Arlette Saenz gave a similar tone, hyping how Blinken was going to provide a contrast to the Trump administration: “[H]is role as Secretary of State in part will be trying to rebuild some of those relationships that President Trump neglected in some ways with allies.”
Obviously, it was unsurprising that the leftist-aligned network did not attack Blinken like they did Tillerson when then President-elect Trump nominated him. And the same could be said of other Trump picks with some summarily dismissed as no more than Fox News flacks.
CNN fixated on the fact that Trump was hiring Fox News contributors like John Bolton, completely ignoring his decades of experience at the time of his appointment. When Morgan Oratgus was named the spokesperson for the State Department, they emphasized her ties to Fox News beforehand, instead of her extensive foreign policy and government experience.
Even when pressed by MRC’s Curtis Houck, CNN host Brian Stelter claimed ignorance rather than admitting to the fact.
Once again, the leftist media seem determined to let their partisan preference stop them from accurately reporting on a Democratic administration. Already, CNN has praised Biden’s early picks while leaving out information they previously would have obsessed over.
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A transcript of the November 23rd Coverage is included below:
New Day
11/23/20
6:00 AM ETALISYN CAMEROTA: And breaking overnight, CNN has learned that President-Elect Joe Biden will nominate longtime foreign policy adviser Tony Blinken to be the next Secretary of State. It's seen as a sign that the incoming administration is trying to rebuild U.S. Alliances. The President-Elect will announce his first cabinet picks tomorrow
[…]
JOHN BERMAN: We'll begin though, with CNN's Arlette Saenz who is covering the incoming Biden administration live in Wilmington, Delaware. The First! Big! Cabinet! News! Tony Blinken leads the list of nominations for Secretary of State.
ARLETTE SAENZ [CNN Political Reporter]: That's right, John. And President-Elect Joe Biden is expected to name his first cabinet picks tomorrow and in that mix is expected to be his pick for Secretary of State. And we're told Biden is expected to nominate a longtime foreign policy adviser, Tony Blinken, someone who served as a deputy Secretary of State during the Obama administration. And also has known Biden going back to his time in the Senate. Also having served as his National Security Adviser while Biden was Vice President. So Biden here for this top position, really turning to a seasoned hand in the diplomatic and national security world. Now, also expected to come tomorrow are Biden's names for the U.N. Ambassador and also his National Security Adviser. To start with National Security Adviser, the leading contender for that position is Jake Sullivan, someone who served in that position for Biden when he was Vice President and also was a top aide with Hillary Clinton when she led the state department. Jake Sullivan has also been leading a lot of Biden's domestic and foreign policy agenda during his Presidential campaign. And for the position of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, the leading contender for that position is Linda Thomas-Greenfield. She has decades in the foreign service. Also was first appointed as an ambassador to Liberia under the bush administration. And also served as the assistant Secretary of State for the bureau of African affairs. And Linda Thomas-Greenfield is also a woman of color, which if Biden works to select her for that key diplomatic post as the Ambassador to the U.N., that would lend more diversity to Biden's top officials that will be leading his administration. Biden has long said he wants his cabinet and top officials to look like America and has pledged to have a diverse team around him. And those are steps that we could see him take in the coming days, John?
JOHN BERMAN: It also gives you a sense of Joe Biden's world view, a much more in-depth sense. We'll talk much more about this, the implications shortly. Arlette, thank you very much for that reporting.
(....)
6:15 AM ET
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Breaking overnight, CNN has learned that President-Elect Joe Biden is expected to name longtime adviser Tony Blinken as his pick for Secretary of State. The news comes ahead of a formal announcement tomorrow. Arlette Saenz with us, also with us is CNN political analyst Alex Burns, he’s a national political correspondent for "The New York Times." Great to see both of you. So Arlette, let's look through some of these expected cabinet picks. So Tony Blinken, Secretary of State. Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.N. Ambassador. What do these tell us about the direction that Joe Biden is going in? And do we have any reporting that Republicans can do anything to block these?
ARLETTE SAENZ [CNN Political Reporter]: Well, first off, when you take the cumulative experience of all of these people together, you are seeing that President-Elect Joe Biden is trying to rely on people who are seasoned, who are in policy, democratic and national security hands. All of these possible contenders for these top posts have decades of experience that they can turn to as they help Biden guide his administration. And when you take a look at Tony Blinken in particular, this is someone who served as a deputy Secretary of State. He's also worked alongside Biden while he was Vice President. And his role as Secretary of State in part will be trying to rebuild some of those relationships that President Trump neglected in some ways with allies. And you heard Biden talk about his desire to reenter things like the Paris Climate Agreement and also the World Health Organization. And those are key components of Biden's foreign policy strategy that Blinken could help implement. But also in addition to the experience factor is the fact that if he were to nominate Linda Thomas-Greenfield, this would lend some diversity to Biden's top officials. He has promised throughout his campaign to have his cabinet and top officials around him look like the rest of America. Can that is something that could make -- he could make a continual promise with if he were to appoint someone like Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Now as for Republicans in the Senate, several of these contenders all have plenty of experience so we will see if Republicans in the Senate will try to put up any roadblocks going forward.
[…]
7:00 AM ET
ALISYN CAMEROTA: And breaking overnight, CNN has learned that President-Elect Joe Biden will nominate Tony Blinken to be his Secretary of State. Blinken is a well-regarded longtime foreign policy expert. He served as deputy Secretary of State. This is seen as a sign that the incoming administration is determined to rebuild damaged alliances. He is an internationalist. The President-Elect will announce his first cabinet picks tomorrow. Blinken leading that list. CNN also has new details about other potential nominees, including Ambassador to the United Nations and his National Security Adviser, which of course does not require Secretary of State confirmation. While this is going on.
[…]
JOHN BERMAN: …Toluse, really with these selections, the Biden team seems to be sending two messages. They sent from the beginning, consistently, which is what they're looking for is experience, unquestioned experience. You can't dispute that Tony Blinken was deputy Secretary of State. He's all but held the same job he's being picked for, so experience and diversity. These are the two messages that they continue to try to send, Toluse.
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA: That's exactly right. Biden and his team are sending messages not only to the Secretary of State, but also to the world, the global community about the kind of President that Joe Biden will be, that he will bring and restore some sense of normalcy to the state department, to his national security team, that world leaders can trust that the Biden foreign policy agenda will not be as chaotic and, you know, hard to follow as the trump agenda has been, that someone like Tony Blinken is someone who is well known, well known in the Senate, when he was confirmed six years ago. It was a mostly party line vote, but he did receive votes from a couple of Republicans and he is well known and has experience. He served as deputy Secretary of State and he’s a close friend of Joe Biden, someone that has the President-Elect's ear. So world leaders, when they see him, when they here him, they'll know that he is speaking on behalf of the presidency, sometimes during this administration, that's been unclear with Rex Tillerson and other officials, whether or not if they were speaking for the President. So I think Joe Biden is trying to show the world that he is going to be in lockstep with his fop officials and bring professionals on to the team and that the American foreign policy will be much more predictable, much more in line with Joe Biden's world view and less in line with what President Trump has done for the past four years.
(....)
8:01 AM ET
JOHN BERMAN: … We learned President-Elect will nominate Tony Blinken as Secretary of State! I mean, he has all but held the job before to be the next Secretary of State, what does that nomination tell us? What does the rest of the national security team we know about so far tell us?
ARLETTE SAENZ [CNN Political Reporter]: Well, first off, John, with these nominations that President-Elect Joe Biden is expected to announce tomorrow, he is trying to make it clear that he is moving forward with all of his transition and planning work, even as the Trump administration has tried to put up road blocks, but by naming someone like Tony Blinken to be his Secretary of State, Biden is making it clear he is relying on people with a lot of foreign policy and diplomatic experience to help guide his administration in these early days. Blinken is a longtime adviser to Biden, and has crafted a lot of his foreign policy stances during the course of the campaign, and something that when you talk to sources who are close to Biden, he has really wanted to make sure that that person who is Secretary of State is out there and able to relay his own world view and beliefs, and there's perhaps no one better than Tony Blinken who has been at Biden's side to do that. Now, we are also learning that there are other posts that Biden is expected to announce tomorrow, and that is his National Security Adviser and also his ambassador to the united nations, for that National Security Adviser role, the leading contender is Jake Sullivan, another longtime aide to the former Vice President, and then also for the ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield. She has decades of experience in the foreign service sector and she also is a woman of color, which would lend some diversity to these top officials that Biden is trying to put together, but really what he is trying to relay here is that's going to lean on these people who have a deep well of experience to help him in this national security and diplomatic role as he is crafting out his administration.
