It seems the rank-and-file over at CBS are getting restless—and it all stems from a controversial new hire.
According to a report in The Washington Post, higher-ups at the network have conceded that Republicans are likely to return in a big way in the November midterm elections. And this is why the network decided to hire former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, as an on-air contributor.
The Post cited CBS News co-President Neeraj Khemlani as explaining to staffers that it was necessary for the network to incorporate more Republican voices for the very good reason that he expects there to be far fewer Democrats in the halls of power come November. Khemlani seems convinced that Democrats will crash and burn in the upcoming midterms.
“If you look at some of the people that we’ve been hiring on a contributor basis,” Khemlani observed in a recording that was leaked to the Post, “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. A lot of the people that we’re bringing in are helping us in terms of access to that side of the equation.”
Mick Mulvaney, it goes without saying, hardly fits the mold of the typical CBS contributor. In fact, during his time as Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mulvaney took more than a few shots at the network—among others—for continually bashing his former boss. And Mulvaney isn’t the only former Trump staffer to be hired by the network.
Another former Trump chief of staff, Reince Priebus, was hired by CBS in 2020, and Trump’s former National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster was onboarded earlier in the month.
But it seems not everyone at the network is pleased with the new additions to the team.
“I know everyone I talked to today was embarrassed about the hiring,” one CBS employee told The Washington Post on condition of anonymity. This appears to be the consensus view among the rank-and-file over at CBS, and their backlash over the new hire seems to be what prompted Khemlani’s statement about the rationale behind the network’s new hiring policy.
CBS’s decision shouldn’t come as any great surprise. Upon reading the tea leaves, the network seems to have made the sensible choice, determining that hiring Mulvaney over the objections of its own staff was necessary to keep a connection to the 74 million Americans who voted for Trump—a vast pool of potential viewers the network simply can’t afford to alienate.
And even if it turns off some of their touchy current viewership, that’s a trade CBS News apparently thinks is worthwhile.
CBS News’s decision to hire Mick Mulvaney as a paid on-air contributor is drawing backlash within the company because of his history of bashing the press and promoting Trump’s lies.
I will NOT watch @CBSNews until they rescind this decision — how about you? #BoycottCBSNews
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) March 31, 2022
Mulvaney made his first appearance on the network on Tuesday morning. Interestingly, the anchor who introduced him, Anne-Marie Green, failed to mention that he worked for the Trump administration, introducing him instead as “a former Office of Management and Budget director.” According to the Post, this oversight prompted a company-wide memo instructing staff to always include “relevant background and biographical information.”
The spate of former Trump administration hires at CBS News follows similar moves by other networks, including CNN, which last year hired Alyssa Farrah Griffin, a former communications director at the Trump White House, and former Fox News host Chris Wallace. As the midterm elections near, expect many more mainstream networks to “diversify” their newsrooms.
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18 thoughts on “Staff revolt at CBS after network hires former Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney ahead of midterms”
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Whoever is pulling the strings is finally understanding that alienating half of the country isn’t good for ratings. Make no mistake though, the goal in their hires is to provide a polite leaning, but more importantly, familiar faces that they hope will draw fans from the right. It’s not about balance and it certainly won’t be about reducing inflammatory reporting as directed by “donors” over truth: not right wing opinions, not left wing opinions – TRUTH. Actual unbiased reporting, verbiage, tone. Yes, there should be debate and editorials, but ratings and politics have become so painful that most options (within the top 10 ratings) are ensnared by their mothership that the same opinions are required. So many PITA people out there want diversity in everything, until you suggest that the same should be true of opinions, and then watch out, here come the unsubstantiated, inflammatory statements about you, followed by a witch hunt (if you’re important enough or if the opposing side decides they want to demonize you), followed by “fill in the blank.” Maybe you’re still sitting in jail because you were on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan 6; maybe you were villainized by the press, social media and even your President and stated to be a murderer, an insurrectionist and a white supremacist, due to an obvious case of self defense, all because of a socially-engineered environment; or you get to briefly enjoy the fruits of your labors by tearfully participate in the slobbering interviews over your painfully staged “hate crime” because you checked all of the EEOC and network rating marks. Let’s just dig into the facts before digging our feet in – can the networks at least try? Crikey.
Those on the left never think those with differing opinions should be heard.
Step aside, he has a right to work just like you!
If the ratings people at CBS were smart, the biggest boost they’ll get is by having Leslie Stahl go public with a retraction and an apology to President Trump for refusing to give him a speck of credibility when he said the Democrats were spying on his campaign. We know he was right. That is a FACT.
Reince Priebus? HAHAHAHA…I wouldn’t exactly say any of these dudes are anything but part of the Washington elite. They definitely are not conservatives.
Didn’t he resigned and betrayed Trump before the second impeachment by Pee-loser, along with McConnell’s Chinese wife?
It has been a few years since I have worked for a major company and I know things have changed and continue to change but I do not recall when I did work for one that the rank and file employees had any say in the hiring or firing process of the company. By the way I was a manager and even as a manager I had to abide by the procedures and processes established by the company when it came to hiring or firing of personnel, all this was monitored and executed by Human Resources who was very by the book.
Semper Fi 1969-1989
Losing the Leftist Snowflakes on-staff could mean continued success for CBS post Communist Cabal.
Let them revolt…..let them quit.
Higher ups at CBS see the writing on the wall. The rank and file better accept the fact that the party is over,
To fnurl: AMEN BROTHER!!
The skirts over at CBS are doing what lefties always do. They are simply trying to silence conservative speech. Mulvaney is viewed as a cancer to liberal propaganda being put forth at the network. They are such selfish, shallow, narcissistic, pieces of s##t.
Aw, do the butt-hurt little libtards need a stuffed unicorn to hold? Lol!
The hiring of Mulvaney can only help increase CNN’s viewing audience which now numbers 14.
Is having only left wing, lying loonies on the staff at CBS a practice the network sees as being successful. If so, then CBS should look at CNN and ask itself if emulating CNN is a successful business model. CBS should tell the employees who object to people working there who are not communists and liars, they need to hit the road. FJB
More proof the left will control everything or else. FJB
Since WHEN did the employees of ANY company think they have a say in who gets hired or who gets FIRED?? Time for some FIRING to happen at CBS !! These Left Wing Radicals have to be weeded out !
To CARCOLLECTOR: Apparently you never worked in a union shop……