Hegseth blasts CNN: ‘The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better’
03.13.26_PB_Hegseth CNN SOT
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blasted CNN on Friday morning for its coverage of the Iran war, exclaiming that the “sooner” Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison “takes over that network, the better.”
“Fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz. Patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do, hold the strait hostage,” Hegseth said during the press briefing at the Pentagon.
“CNN doesn’t think we thought of that. It’s a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better,” Hegseth, a former Fox News host, told reporters.
A CNN spokesperson told The Hill on Friday morning that “we stand by our reporting.”
Ellison’s company reached a deal to acquire CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, earlier this month.
Ellison has insisted CNN will maintain its editorial independence should the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger clear.
“Editorial independence will absolutely be maintained. It’s maintained at CBS. It’ll be maintained at CNN,” he said during an interview on CNBC.
The executive has in recent months taken heat from Democrats and media critics over the implementation of a former conservative think tank leader as ombudsman at CBS News.
Ellison has promised to retool the network’s editorial strategy to serve a more politically “diverse” audience, a pledge some have taken as a desire for a rightward shift at the broadcaster.
Paramount Skydance acquired the company with a $111 billion bid after a bidding war with Netflix, although the purchase still needs regulatory approval.
Hegseth has repeatedly chastised the news media for their coverage of the Pentagon and the U.S. military, arguing outlets are looking to make the U.S. armed forces look bad.
“People look up at the TV and they see banners. They see headlines. I used to be in that business, and I know that everything is written intentionally. For example, a banner or a headline. Mideast war intensifies splashing on the screen,” Hegseth said Friday morning.
“What should the banner read instead? How about Iran increasingly desperate? Because they are,” he told reporters during his opening remarks. “They know it.”
Dominick Mastrangelo contributed.
Updated at 9:53 a.m. EDT
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All Comments
Comment by suebard7.
I'm always surprised by how many leftists leave comments here in The Hill's comment section. CNN is as unreliable as Fox and as biased. We should starve biased media. They're an ugly monster.
Reply by blacksmith.
All news media are run by humans who are biased, and are therefore biased. The trick is to read news from different media and try to average them out. Difficult, but Walter Cronkite is long dead, and has not been replaced.
FWIW, Fox News is rated more biased and less reliable than CNN by both Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias Fact Check.
Reply by RINO.
Nothing CNN is reporting is biased. The Trump administration's lack of planning is astounding.
The Iran war is a colossal failure and even more tragic because it was self inflicted by Trump canceling the nuclear agreement.
Comment by Will P.
That right there is why this deal needs to be blocked
Comment by Hillivator.
Trump team always thinking today about what they should have thought about yesterday.
Comment by RINO.
So you knew that world oil prices would soar in a week and ignored the fact you would not topple the Iranian regime?
Wow, that's a lot better lol.
Comment by RINO.
Sure whiskey Pete. Everything is going to plan.
Comment by BP1.
We already knew that once Ellison takes over CNN it will become a mouthpiece 100% devoted to supporting Trump, but it's reassuring of Hegseth to confirm that today.
Comment by I V.
Sure, CNN must maintain its editorial independence. However it should also be held responsible for its fearmongering tactics, selective reporting, and sometimes blatant lies. Example of selecting reporting: markets go up, markets go down, then up, then down again. CNN would always report "Markets are plummeting" when they are on a downward trend, but almost never report when they go up - and if they do, they use a very more subtle language, like "despite (blah), markets are not crashing".
Reply by Will P.
Remember fox news is only people who had to pay for their lying
Reply by suebard7.
What? CNN has also been successfully sued. They absolutely do blantantly lie. How convenient to forget Nicholas Sandman. Geez.
Comment by Casa Vistalba.
Expect David Ellison to do with CNN what Jeff Bezos did with the Washington Post. It is not a bad thing, the WaPo looks more like a serious paper than the Jimmy Jones sect's paper it used to be.
Reply by maryfiori867.
CNN will probably lose people like me as I am not at all interested in tRUMP cheerleaders. We had a two-term governor here in MA whom I gladly voted for, but I have no interest in hearing tRUMP constantly tear down people just because they are Democrats.
Comment by Casa Vistalba.
One thing is certain: CNN, much like other left-leaning outlets such as The New York Times and the BBC, seems to anticipate a catastrophic failure in Iran, and their coverage reflects a deeply biased and misleading narrative.
Reply by RINO.
Anticipating a catastrophic failure.
Now that's a bold prediction lol!
Reply by Hillivator.
It's already a catastrophic failure.
Comment by Casa Vistalba.
I gather that it is no secret that since the 10th century, the Strait of Hormuz has been one of the world’s most strategic waterways, serving as a vital military and economic asset. Historically contested by powers from the Portuguese to the British, and today heavily monitored by Iran, the U.S., and Gulf states, it has always been more than a trade route. its control or disruption can shift global energy security and military balance. Who did not know that?
Reply by JSP.
aka grifters.
Reply by RINO.
Clueless Trump and his toadies.
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