The biggest media story to break all week was a series of Wednesday reports from the Washington Post that confirmed both Hunter Biden’s laptop and his shady deals with Chinese business interests, which upending previous media assertions it was all “Russian disinformation.” But that was of ZERO importance to CNN+ Reliable Sources Daily host Brian Stelter and his lackey Oliver Darcy on Thursday.
According to their twistedness, the real media controversy was a different Post story about CBS News hiring former Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and pushback from some at the company.
“CBS executives are on the defensive for hiring former Trump White House official Mick Mulvaney and for not identifying him that way on the air in his first appearance. There's been some internal pushback including from top on-air talent,” Stelter announced at the top of the segment.
After bringing on Darcy, Stelter let it be known they had gotten the story from The Post. “So, the Washington Post has been advancing this and then we've been on the phone this morning looking into this further,” he boasted of their work.
Again, CNN and Stelter chose to do this story over the other bombshells by The Post that actually have consequences that are harmful to President Biden and the media.
Of course, Stelter wanted to hype it up: "This is going on for three days now. CBS hired Mick Mulvaney, who is not just any former Trump official. You know, he was truly inside Trump's inner circle. And CBS hiring him bringing him in as a Republican voice has not gone over well, inside CBS."
In addition to being in the Trump administration, Darcy found Mulvaney’s criticism of the media to be one of his top offenses. “And so now, CBS, after Mulvaney had attacked the news media for so long, has signed Mulvaney onto a deal of political contributors,” he whined.
But even at CBS, there was a more pressing controversy Stelter and Darcy could and should be talking about: CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell may be on her way out as network executive get fed up with her “diva-like” and “toxic behavior.”
And yet, they chose to rail against any network that dared to hire any former Trump administration official including their own:
Let's look at some other examples on screen. ABC News hiring Tom Bossert, CNN hiring Alyssa Farah, and, of course, Fox News has an entire lineup of former Fox officials, so, does Newsmax.
And I think Oliver, it's one thing for Newsmax and Fox to hire those folks that – that's a – that's a – that's to be expected. What is more controversial is the NBCs, the ABCs, the CBS, the CNNs.
Of course, they did make excuses for their hire. “Alyssa Farah has been very critical of Trump,” Stelter noted in CNN’s defense.
“Which I think is a key difference here, right versus Mulvaney. Because Mulvaney ran cover for Trump,” Darcy added. “I haven't seen him apologize for that. And really the role that Alyssa Farah played in the Trump administration was different than what Mulvaney.”
Near the end of the segment, Stelter finally got around to noting “the argument from CBS” was “[t]here's a midterm coming up. You've got to reflect the 74-[7]5 million Americans who voted for Trump in 2020. So, you have to hire political insiders.”
But Darcy wasn’t buying it and asserted it was like CBS had chosen to “inject lies into coverage to make people feel more comfortable.” He then called it “a really problematic hire” and promised to stay on the story as CBS tried to weather the storm.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN+’s Reliable Sources Daily
March 31, 2022BRIAN STELTER: Now some of our new reporting about a controversy inside CBS News. CBS executives are on the defensive for hiring former Trump White House official Mick Mulvaney and for not identifying him that way on the air in his first appearance. There's been some internal pushback including from top on-air talent. CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy is here with more on that story.
Oliver great to see you.
OLIVER DARCY: Good to see you, Brian.
STELTER: So, the Washington Post has been advancing this and then we've been on the phone this morning looking into this further. This is going on for three days now. CBS hired Mick Mulvaney, who is not just any former Trump official. You know, he was truly inside Trump's inner circle. And CBS hiring him bringing him in as a Republican voice has not gone over well, inside CBS.
DARCY: No, let's remember what Mick Mulvaney did. He played a key role in the Trump administration's war on the truth. He attacked media outlets. He downplayed COVID he played a role in the Ukraine scandal that got President Trump impeached the first time. So, he wasn't some small player. He was a key player. Was acting chief of staff for the Trump administration.
And so now, CBS, after Mulvaney had attacked the news media for so long, has signed Mulvaney onto a deal of political contributors. So, he's not a journalist, but he's a political contributor on the network. And it's causing a lot of backlash.
You know, first, right after it was announced, you saw pushback immediately from critics on Twitter and elsewhere.
STELTER: Yeah, but those usual liberal critics on Twitter.
DARCY: Well, no. they weren’t the usual liberal folks. They're – I mean, they're – they're – they're actually, you know, uh, they're – they're – they're journalists, they’re impartial to some extent. You know, they're not the – like Media Matters.
STELTER: Okay, but also internally there is resistance.
DARCY: But now internally, we're hearing that there is also a pushback which is even more problematic I think for CBS. Where the Washington Post for instance, reported yesterday that there were employees were very upset. They said that they're embarrassed about how this was handled.
And you have to also remember that the first time, you know, CBS really fumbled this the first time they had him on his on their air; they didn't, you know, disclosed that he was part of the Trump administration, played a senior role. They called him the former the director of the Office of Budget and Management, which is that it sounds kind of nonpartisan.
STELTER: Like could've been anybody—
DARCY: And then he talked about taxes.
STELTER: By the way I talked to an executive there today. They admit that was a mistake, the title that that was a mistake that won't happen again. But he's going to remain on and he's not the only former Trump aide inside a television network now.
Let's look at some other examples on screen. ABC News hiring Tom Bossert, CNN hiring Alyssa Farah, and, of course, Fox News has an entire lineup of former Fox officials, so, does Newsmax.
And I think Oliver, it's one thing for Newsmax and Fox to hire those folks that – that's a – that's a – that's to be expected. What is more controversial is the NBCs, the ABCs, the CBS, the CNNs.
DARCY: Sure.
STELTER: Alyssa Farah has been very critical of Trump.
DARCY: Which I think is a key difference here, right versus Mulvaney. Because Mulvaney ran cover for Trump. I don't, I haven't seen him apologize for that. And really the role that Alyssa Farah played in the Trump administration was different than what Mulvaney.
STELTER: Well, Mulvaney has tried to distance himself from some of Trump's worst moments, I believe.
DARCY: I mean the very bare minimum stuff.
STELTER: But here's the argument from CBS: There's a midterm coming up. You've got to reflect the 74-[7]5 million Americans who voted for Trump in 2020. So, you have to hire political insiders.
DARCY: That's like saying you have to inject lies into coverage to make people feel more comfortable. You know, sometimes Brian, the truth is uncomfortable. It's gonna make people a little upset. They're not gonna enjoy hearing their views contradicted, but that's what reporters do. They report the facts regardless of how it's going to go over with the audience.
And so when you have Mulvaney in there, I think it's just a – it's – it's a really problematic hire, I think, for CBS and – and it's going to be interesting to see whether employees continue to voice concerns and whether this grows inside CBS or whether it just blows over in a few days later. We’re not really sure.
STELTER: Yeah, whether it fades away.
DARCY: We'll follow it though.
STELTER: That's right, Oliver, thank you so much. Good to see you.
