Appointments
Rarely does a CNN panelist come out swinging in defense of a Trump administration nominee while going after a Democratic Party senator. But on Wednesday, CNN's Philip Mudd, who like most on-air personalities at the network has been harshly critical of the Trump administration and its officials, reacted strongly to harsh questions California Democrat Kamala Harris directed at Trump CIA nominee Gina Haspel.
“Budget Hawk” Mick Mulvaney is the latest conservative in the crosshairs of the New York Times. The front of Wednesday’s edition featured a very long, quite hostile profile by Glenn Thrush and Alan Rappeport of Mulvaney, Trump’s budget director and current head of the Obama-era agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: “Budget Hawk Hones Claws at Consumer Bureau.” When he wasn't a ravenous hawk, he was an excitable dog: "...he sprung to life like a Jack Russell terrier off leash."
Eager to tear down another one of President Trump’s nominees, on Monday, all three network morning show’s seized on a Washington Post article claiming that the President’s nominee to be CIA Director, Gina Haspel, considered withdrawing over the weekend, before her upcoming Senate confirmation hearing. Hosts and correspondents breathlessly hyped the story and worried about Haspel’s role in the enhanced interrogation of terror suspects after 9/11.
The American people don't trust the establishment press, as seen in a Pew Research poll result released Thursday showing that only 8 percent of Americans have "a great deal of confidence" that the media will "act in the best interests of the public." Here is one more example showing why this attitude is entirely justified: The Secret Service, after a thorough investigation in response to anonymous, media-promoted smears, is reporting that it found "no information that would indicate" that a misconduct allegation against withdrawn VA nominee Ronny Jackson is true.
On Wednesday's MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle, host Ruhle worried that President Donald Trump is appointing too many "white male judges" from the conservative Federalist Society who will be on the courts "forever," during a discussion of rapper Meek Mill's release from prison.
After an 11th- hour vote change from Senator Rand Paul (KY) Monday, CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s nomination for Secretary of State was allowed to go to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Defying expectations and an obstructionist Democratic Party, the progress of Pompeo’s nomination drew the ire of NBC Nightly News and Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell, whose report on the vote was filled with Democratic gripes and talking points.
Following hours of CIA Director Mike Pompeo testifying during his Senate confirmation hearing to become the next Secretary of State, MSNBC anchor Katy Tur decided to single out a particularly absurd exchange where Democratic Senator Cory Booker grilled the nominee on his views about gay marriage. Predictably, Tur tried to argue that the bizarre and irrelevant line of questioning was actually essential in determining Pompeo’s foreign policy credentials.
After news broke Wednesday afternoon that President Trump would be replacing Veteran Affairs Secretary David Shulkin with White House Physician Ronny Jackson, Tuesday’s network morning shows proceeded to dismiss the Navy Rear Admiral as unqualified for the job. The coverage even seemed to criticize Jackson for accurately describing the President’s health during a press conference in January.
On Wednesday night, CNN continued its unholy and fact-devoid crusade to tar and feather every one of President Trump’s new high-profile government hires as nothing more than a clueless Trump stooge off the street or a Fox News personality. This time, their unfortunate target was Navy Rear Admiral Dr. Ronny Jackson hours after the President nominated him to be the new Secretary of the Department for Veteran’s Affairs.
Thursday, CNN's Brian Stelter theorized, both on the air and in a tweet, that the Trump administration timed its announcement of National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster's departure, and the appointment of former UN ambassador John Bolton as his replacement, to distract from his network's upcoming interview of Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model who claims to have had an affair with Donald Trump over a decade ago. And they wonder why their ratings and their credibility continue to circle the drain.
Establishment press journalists are getting hot under the collar over the growing use of the term "Deep State." They imagine that only nutty conservatives and Republicans believe that the Deep State even exists. Thanks to poor show prep, MSNBC's Chris Matthews found out otherwise in embarrassing fashion on Tuesday evening's Hardball, while one of his show's presentation graphics effectively told 74 percent of Americans that they are "Deranged."
Following the resignation of Gary Cohn as top economic adviser, President Donald Trump selected CNBC contributor and former anchor Larry Kudlow for the spot.
Many liberal media outlets raced to attack the vocal free trade proponent who was the latest prominent person to join the Trump administration. Kudlow had previously served as an informal adviser to the campaign. They attacked him over his support for tax cuts and supply-side economics, as well as failed forecasts.