CBS Hired Mulvaney To Ensure MAGA ‘Access’ After ‘Likely’ Midterm Wipeout
The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr uncovered the likely real reason CBS News hired noted fabulist and ex-Trump aide Mick Mulvaney as a paid, on-air contributor via a recording of a staff meeting earlier in the month:
“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,” CBS News’s co-president Neeraj Khemlani told the staff of the network’s morning show, according to a recording of his comments obtained by The Washington Post. “A lot of the people that we’re bringing in are helping us in terms of access to that side of the equation.”
The reaction from CBS News employees to Mulvaney’s hiring was as chilly as the reaction on social media, where many journalists and political commentators suggested that the network was jeopardizing its long history of journalistic excellence.
Of course, CBS claimed publicly it was Mulvaney’s cred that got him the job:
The network’s announcement Tuesday of Mulvaney’s appointment mentioned his varied experience as a public servant, first as a member of Congress, then as Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, and then as interim White House chief of staff.