According to BuzzFeed, the gay son of a Republican congressman claims both CNN and MSNBC canceled interviews with him after he refused to criticize his father, who opposes same-sex marriage, on the air. He said CNN producers were "gung ho" about an interview before they changed their mind.
CNN's Piers Morgan Live and MSNBC's The Last Word were the two shows that reportedly canceled on Matt R. Salmon, son of Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.). Sources from both networks responded to BuzzFeed, denying that they dropped him because of his refusal to criticize his father.
"They seemed very gung ho about it," Salmon said of Piers Morgan Live on local news channel KPNX. "And then when I was talking about how supportive I was of my father, and how I was unwilling to be negative, they seemed to lose interest. And all of a sudden their show got jammed, and they couldn't fit me in."
In an exclusive interview with Matt R. Salmon, Phoenix TV station KPNX also reported his claim that "The show producers' vision was of the gay son bashing the his [sic] Republican congressman dad, Matt Salmon, for not supporting same-sex marriage. The younger Salmon said he told them he wasn't going to do that."
As NewsBusters has reported, CNN is already devoted to the cause of gay activist group GLAAD, as its corporate partner. GLAAD has bestowed honors on CNN for its reporting on gay rights issues. And GLAAD has already picked up on Rep. Salmon's refusal to back same-sex marriage.
The interview can be seen below:
