CNN staffers filled with 'dread' over possible MAGA takeover

CNN's Scott Jennings at the CNN Republican Presidential Debate in Des Moines, Iowa on January 10, 2024 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Although President Donald Trump often attacks CNN as "fake news," one CNN contributor he holds in high regard is GOP strategist Scott Jennings — a strident defender of Trump and the MAGA movement. Jennings worked with his share of traditional conservatives in the past, including former President George W. Bush and ex-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). And if a change in ownership goes through, CNN could end up with a lot more MAGA commentary.

In an article published on February 28, Radar Online's Beth Shilliday reports that many CNN staffers are filled with "dread" over the prosect of the cable news outlet being sold to Paramount-Skydance and "Republican billionaire David Ellison" becoming CNN's "new boss." CNN is presently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

"Paramount and Netflix had been in a bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery," Shilliday explains, "but the streamer said it would leave the negotiations after Paramount put in what it called a 'superior' revised bid that the company was unwilling to match on February 26…. Employees are 'devastated' by the prospect of the sale, one insider told Variety."

The possibility of CNN being sold to Paramount-Skydance follows shakeups at CBS News under Bari Weiss (who Ellison brought in) and the Washington Post under Amazon's Jeff Bezos. Under Bezos, a who's-who of the Post's opinion section have left — including Greg Sargent (now with The New Republic), Catherine Rampell (now an MS NOW host), Paul Waldman, and Never Trumper Jennifer Rubin (now with The Contrarian).

"Trump has gone so far as to not take questions from CNN's White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins due to the network's nonstop bashing of the president and his policies," Shilliday observes. "He openly calls CNN 'fake news' when speaking to reporters, and repeats the claim frequently on his social media. If Ellison ends up with the cable news network among his assets, CNN's openly anti-Trump proselytizing could soon change."

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