Clearly, Inside Politics host John King is someone who prefers sober discussions of the news and not, as many of his CNN colleagues have been complicit in doing, giving attention to folks like Michael Avenatti. After Michael Cohen’s sentencing, King slammed Avenatti on Wednesday for craving “attention” “like a moth to light” and expressed dismay that CNN made him interrupt his panel to air Avenatti’s babbling.
Before Avenatti, King was wondering “how does the President react” to the sentencing and whether Wednesday’s developments will move the needle in Washington since the perception of the Cohen story has thus far played out along party lines.
It was in the midst of this that King was interrupted in his earpiece and he became a tad perturbed: “Ah, let’s go. Here we go. Michael Avenatti, I’m told, is speaking now. What he has to do with this, I'm not quite so sure, but there he is.”
King gave Avenatti just under a minute before he pulled back and his mood hadn’t changed, stating with resignation:
All right, you’re listening to Michael Avenatti, who is the attorney for Stormy Daniels, of course, one of the allegations, one of the guilty — one of the things Michael Cohen has now been convicted of is the Southern District of New York says, in the payments to Stormy Daniels and in the payments to Karen McDougal, Stormy Daniels being the adult film actress, Karen McDougal the Playboy centerfold, the Southern District of New York alleges Michael Cohen and then candidate Donald Trump named Individual #1 in the documents violated campaign finance laws. That is alleged.
He then stated that this was presumably “why Michael Avenatti — like a moth to light, I guess, is in the courthouse here” seeing as how “[h]e’s someone who likes attention.”
Still unhappy about having to give Avenatti airtime, he told the Associated Press D.C. bureau chief Julie Pace that he “was trying to have a conversation about things that actually matter, sorry, Michael Avenatti to here in Washington in the sense that we don’t know how the President is going to react to this.”
As NewsBusters has previously reported, Avenatti appeared on CNN 82 times between March 7 and June 15 with seemingly countless others across the other broadcast and cable networks.
So if King is tired of Avenatti, not only is it a little too late to complain about that, perhaps he should channel his annoyance with Avenatti toward boss Jeffrey Zucker and his other CNN colleagues for making him such a star in the Resistance.
To see the relevant transcript from CNN’s Inside Politics on December 12, click “expand.”
CNN’s Inside Politics
December 12, 2018
12:27 a.m. EasternJOHN KING: One of the questions here is, A, how does the President react and, B, does this change here in Washington? This case playing out in New York. Here in Washington, this has played out largely along what tribe are you in? Democrats saying Michael Cohen's testimony, Michael Cohen's guilty pleas, now Michael Cohen going to federal prison is proof that the President was part of this corrupt and the leader of this corrupt group of people. Republicans say Michael Cohen committed these crimes, he says these things about the President. Who knows if they're true. Ah, let’s go. Here we go. Michael Avenatti, I’m told, is speaking now. What he has to do with this, I'm not quite so sure, but there he is.
MICHAEL AVENATTI: And only until his back was against the wall and he faced significant prison time did he decide to “come clean.” He even lied to the Office of the Special Counsel in July of this year. Michael Cohen is no hero. He is no patriot. His choice, time and time again, was to degrade my client, seek to intimidate her, call her and me liars and seek to degrade the office of the presidency of the United States by seeking to buy effectively an election. This is an outrage. He deserves every day of the 36 month sentence that he will serve and I will also note with great irony, Michael Cohen —
KING: Alright, you’re listening to Michael Avenatti, who is the attorney for Stormy Daniels, of course, one of the allegations, one of the guilty — one of the things Michael Cohen has now been convicted of is the Southern District of New York says, in the payments to Stormy Daniels and in the payments to Karen McDougal, Stormy Daniels being the adult film actress, Karen McDougal the Playboy centerfold, the Southern District of New York alleges Michael Cohen and then candidate Donald Trump named Individual #1 in the documents violated campaign finance laws. That is alleged. That’s why Michael Avenatti — like a moth to light, I guess, is in the courthouse here. He's someone who likes attention. Julie Pace, I was trying to have a conversation about things that actually matter, sorry, Michael Avenatti to here in Washington in the sense that we don’t know how the President is going to react to this. He cannot say this is the coffee boy, George Papadopoulos or he cannot say, which is ludicrous, Paul Manafort, I think he was around for a couple of months at one point, Paul Manafort was central, but the President often dismisses like I barely knew that person. This was his right-hand man in all things sort of gray if you will.
