The list of people unhappy with CBS News hiring former top Trump aide Mick Mulvaney as a contributor includes quite a few people at CBS News. But network executives are very clear about why they wanted Mulvaney: not for his expertise, but for the access they hope he offers.
“If you look at some of the people that we’ve been hiring on a contributor basis, being able to make sure that we are getting access to both sides of the aisle is a priority because we know the Republicans are going to take over, most likely, in the midterms,” The Washington Post reports CBS News’ Co-president Neeraj Khemlani told morning show staff. “A lot of the people that we’re bringing in are helping us in terms of access to that side of the equation.”
Yeah, buddy, if you think you're getting anything but contempt from the likes of Mulvaney, you’re deluding yourself. Mulvaney will be happy to cash checks from CBS while using it as a propaganda platform, but his presence on the network won’t change the fundamental Republican hostility to the media.
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Meanwhile, CBS News is dealing itself a hit to its reputation. In the middle of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, the network has hired a guy who played an instrumental role in withholding military aid from Ukraine for political favors and then defended it as business as usual, telling reporters to “Get over it,” because, “There is going to be political influence in foreign policy.”
As Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) head and acting White House chief of staff, when Mulvaney wasn’t defending the indefensible, he was just plain lying. That’s the quality of analysis CBS News is elevating in the hopes of getting access to more people who will offer it the same.
“I know everyone I talked to today was embarrassed about the hiring,” due in large part to Mulvaney’s history of what the Post politely describes as “inaccuracy,” an unnamed CBS News employee said.
“Everyone is baffled,” said another unnamed CBS employee.
Why be baffled? Your co-president explained the thinking. CBS News is paying for a guy with a documented history of falsehood who, as OMB head, was one of the people directly responsible for withholding military aid from Ukraine so his boss could demand personal political favors, because the leadership at CBS News thinks this is what the network needs to do its work if Republicans take the House. It’s not about accuracy or honesty in reporting. It’s about Republicans answering your calls—maybe to lie to you, but answering. And the whole thing is kind of a perfect microcosm of how the traditional media operates.
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Mick Mulvaney outright admits that Trump held up aid to Ukraine to get support for conspiracy theory
