Former longtime CNN host Larry King lamenting the state of cable news said that Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC are no longer news networks but are now the Trump networks for their obsessive coverage of the president.
King made his comments on the Law & Crime Network on Thursday,
Last week CNN president Jeff Zucker admitted that the network felt compelled to cover Trump or otherwise lose its audience to the other networks. All three cable news networks have seen a large jump in ratings–and profits since Trump announced his candidacy as president.
King also commented on CNN’s lawsuit against President Trump for suspending Chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials he aggressively questioned the president at a press conference last week.
“Jim was a little out of line. I wouldn’t have gone that far, he answered one or two questions then he didn’t want to answer anymore. You got a room full of people all of whom have the right to ask questions. Jim might have gone a little far. The president kept going back to him… To me, you know what this was, eighth grade. It was the playground, ‘That’s my ball and I wanna play today on the team.’ It was childish.”
“I’m a big supporter of freedom of speech, but on the other hand, there are 50 press passes at CNN to the White House,” King said.
King thought that Fox News made a smart lawyerly move to support CNN’s position against Trump noting that “you could have another president in three years who throws a Fox reporter out,” and advised Acosta to “try to learn as much as you can from” Trump in the press conferences, rather than making the story about yourself which is exactly what he has done.
“You’re not bigger than [Trump]. It isn’t about you, it’s about him,” King said. “CNN has become — as is Fox, and MSNBC — Trump networks. There’s the anti-Trump network, the partial anti-Trump network, and the pro-Trump network. But they’re not news networks.”
King’s frustration with the cable news networks stems from his belief that by constantly covering Trump they are following the news and not leading it as they should.
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