The Head of CNN Sees No Problem with Giving Donald Trump's Surrogates Airtime

Expect to keep seeing the likes of Jeffrey Lord and Kayleigh McEnany.
Image may contain Jeff Zucker Tie Accessories Accessory Human Person Suit Coat Clothing Overcoat and Apparel
(Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)

As our nation endures an on-going and ever-deepening constitutional crisis, it's never been more important for the news media to hold our leaders accountable with tough questions, healthy skepticism, and a respect for facts. The stakes literally couldn't be higher. And though some institutions seem to grasp this ("Democracy Dies in Darkness" anybody?) others... are CNN.

Look. To be fair to the cable news giant, there are countless great journalists doing great work for them, and those journalists are done a disservice every time the words "Let's go to Jeffrey Lord" are said. Lord and Kayleigh McEnany are two of the most visible Trump surrogates on CNN, and watching them is a constant exercise in transparent dishonesty. It's not just that they have views I disagree with, it's that they refuse to engage with the same world the rest of us are living in. Every time they're brought on, it's as though CNN is going to a remote from a different universe where Donald Trump didn't say that awful thing he said, or do that awful thing he did, or suffer another disastrous day for his administration. It's the opposite of informative.


Kellyanne Conway Makes an Excellent Case for Not Putting Her on TV

Trump's most visible spokesperson continues to disappoint.

But in a new New York Times report, CNN boss Jeff Zucker disagrees. Why? Is it that old fallacy of "balance" being more important than objective truth? No. It's even worse than that.

As Zucker sees it, his pro-Trump panelists are not just spokespeople for a worldview; they are “characters in a drama,” members of CNN’s extended ensemble cast. “Everybody says, ‘Oh, I can’t believe you have Jeffery Lord or Kayleigh McEnany,’ but you know what?” Zucker told me with some satisfaction. “They know who Jeffrey Lord and Kayleigh McEnany are.”

Um, that's not how news is supposed to work. First off, it's not the media's job to actively make themselves the story. If the news is an ongoing drama, then the characters should be the politicians, not the commentators you put on the air. What kind of navel-gazing nonsense is that? Second, and more disturbing, is the idea that, to Zucker, it is more important for his network to have "characters in a drama" than for those commentators to be reasonable and skilled at informing the public.

The only way Jeffrey Lord has been informative to the public is that his sycophancy captures the sycophancy of many Trump supporters who aren't interested in facts. But that's not a good enough reason to put someone on the news. Especially because giving him that time means you're telling people that what he is saying is worthy of their attention. Many Republican commentators are very worthy of your attention. Lord and McEnany and Katrina Pierson aren't. Hell, I don't think Kellyanne Conway should be booked on these shows, because of her penchant for wild lies and her inability to accurately inform the public about the administration, and she literally works feet from Trump. If she's bad, these second tier Trump lackeys are even worse.

And for the record, Lord is the worst of them all. His "I can't believe they let me say this stuff on TV, either" smile is the single most irritating thing on television right now. Pierson is a close second for saying Obama invaded Afghanistan, as though George W. Bush never happened.

Watch Now:
Which of Trump's Cronies Will Flip on Him First?