The sudden resignation of CNN President Jeffrey Zucker shocked the already struggling network.
It seems like every week another CNN official is forced to leave over some sleazy scandal.
And now CNN’s new leader just admitted the one thing we all knew about the network.
CNN President Jeffrey Zucker’s sudden resignation supposedly for failing to disclose his sordid affair with the network’s chief marketing officer, Allison Gollust, shocked the cable news industry last week.
CNN anchor and number one apologist Brian Stelter seemed on the verge of a breakdown when forced to announce the news.
And as soon as the resignation was announced questions began as to who Zucker’s replacement would be.
From all indications it looks like that new leader will be current Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
Discovery Inc. is finalizing its merger with WarnerMedia, CNN’s parent company, and once that is completed Zaslav will be put in charge of the failing news network.
That is if he can keep his foot out of his mouth.
The New York Post reported that during a discussion last week on CNBC about the future of CNN, Zaslav said CNN was “the leader in news to the left.”
His exact quote was, “We have this great entertainment menu, which should keep people in the home, from the kids to the grandparents. Why would they go anywhere else? And then we’re the leader in news to the left.”
Seemingly shocked by Zaslav’s frank admission the CNBC host responded, “Definitely to the left. Did you say to the left?” He then said he “probably shouldn’t have said that.”
Zaslav never clarified his comment and not surprisingly the segment went viral on social media.
Of course, for most Americans it was simply an admission of what we’ve all known for years anyway.
Discovery’s communication team however was not too happy with their boss’s comment and immediately began trying to explain away his very clear statement.
They have insisted he wasn’t talking about politics at all.
A representative told the Post that Zaslav “didn’t finish his thought,” saying that when he speaks of “the left” or “the right,” he’s referring to “current and future business initiatives.”
We aren’t quite clear what that even means. Especially given that the fawning and shocked CNBC host gave Zaslav ample opportunity to explain himself, and Zaslav refused.
So of course it’s no surprise that The Daily Mail reported CNBC posted a clip of Zaslav’s interview on Twitter but then quickly deleted it.
And that great leftist “arbiter of truth” Mediaite, initially reported the comment as a political remark, but later issued a “correction” to clarify that “Zaslav was referring to the left side of the Discovery portfolio, not the left side of the political aisle.”
Expect Brian Stelter and the spinmeisters at CNN to begin a full-court press to attempt to explain away Zaslav’s comment in the coming weeks.
And then expect Zaslav to name Zucker’s replacement, who will report to Zaslav, later this spring.
That replacement will be a “fair-minded” news executive, who will be brought on to try and restore CNN’s credibility.
Who knows, maybe he will bring on an unbiased person like Bill Kristol, or Liz Cheney.