Former CNN anchor Miles O'Brien (no relation to current CNN special correspondent Soledad O'Brien) slammed Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell as a "Tea Party nutbag" in a Tweet on Wednesday evening. O'Brien continued that he "forget [sic] her ignorant nonsense," referring to her defense of the creationist viewpoint during a 1996 appearance on his former network.
O'Brien, who was let go by CNN in 2008 after they closed their science unit, linked to an article on the left-wing website Talking Points Memo after his attack on O'Donnell. The article, by Eric Kleefeld, highlighted an item by Dan Amira of New York magazine, who "dug up" the Republican's March 1996 appearance with O'Brien and Dr. Michael McKinney of the University of Tennessee-Chattanoga. During the panel discussion, O'Donnell defended the creationism. Kleefeld labeled it as just another part of the social conservative's "religious right work," citing her apparent "long career in anti-sex and anti-masturbation activism."
The former anchor's Tweet is not surprising, gives his record of liberal bias when he was at CNN, particularly on the issue of climate change. On February 9, 2006, O'Brien accused scientists skeptical of the theory of manmade global warming as being "bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industry." Over two months later, he suggested raising gasoline taxes to "help pay for these alternative fuels." During 2007, the then-CNN anchor insisted to former Republican Congressman J. C. Watts that the "scientific debate is over" on the climate change issue. O'Brien also dismissed critics of Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" later that year.
Outside of the global warming issue, the journalist conducted other left-leaning advocacy. He helped CNN promote the controversial "Death of a President" movie depicting the assassination of former President George W. Bush during an October 27, 2006 segment with director Gabriel Range. He labeled four American contractors who were kidnaped in Iraq "mercenaries" less than a month later. In April 2008, he tried to spin the 40% approval rating the Democratically-controlled Congress had at the time: "Democrats are marking 100 days of their congressional reign now, and they're riding pretty high."
