CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Kaitlan Collins have weighed in on Donald Trump‘s latest comments that the news network should be sold in whichever deal parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) makes.
On Wednesday’s (December 10) The Lead With Jake Tapper, Tapper discussed the ongoing bidding war for WBD, which has seen both Netflix and Paramount Skydance making plays for the company. Despite accepting a bid from Netflix on Friday, WBD received a hostile counteroffer from David Ellison’s Paramount on Monday.
Trump has stayed clear of publicly stating which side he favors, though on Wednesday, he told reporters at the White House that it’s “imperative that CNN be sold” in whatever deal is made.
“You have some good companies bidding on it. I think the people that have run CNN for the last long period of time are a disgrace,” the President said, per TheWrap. “I think CNN should be sold because I think the people that are running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent.”
On Wednesday night, Tapper accused Trump of “breaking with longstanding precedent on the role of a President when it comes to private commercial transactions.”
“He’s making his position on the acquisition very clear,” the news anchor continued. “Saying he’s very focused on the fate of this news network and he will involve himself on the purchase.”
While Trump hasn’t outright said he is favoring either bidder, it should be noted that only Paramount’s bid includes the purchase of CNN. Netflix would only be acquiring WDB’s film and TV studios, HBO, and HBO Max, but not its linear broadcast assets (which include CNN, HGTV, TBS, etc).
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Trump told reporters he wouldn’t want to see CNN left with “good money… so they could spend even more money spreading poison.”
Tapper called Trump’s remarks “extremely unprecedented,” per TheWrap, though “not surprising” given the President’s “long dislike for any journalism that holds him accountable.”
Collins, who has been on the receiving end of Trump’s insults this past week, shared similar sentiments on The Source.
“Maybe people aren’t surprised to see the President weigh in on [the WBD bidding war], just given, it’s the President, and people are really familiar with how he does things,” she said, per TheWrap. “But it is still astounding to see a President get so directly involved in something that federal regulators are going to have to decide on.”
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