CNN’s Abby Phillip Hits Back at Liberal Critics Knocking Her for Having ‘MAGA People’ on Show
CNN’s Abby Phillip called out liberal critics who take issue with her inviting “MAGA people” on her NewsNight show.
Phillip joined The Breakfast Club on Tuesday, where she discussed President Donald Trump’s policy victories, how her network is perceived politically, as well as pushback she receives over her selection in guests. She was on the show to promote her new book about Jesse Jackson, A Dream Deferred.
NewsNight is a roundtable talk show that invites on guests of differing political views to debate the hot news stories of the day. Trump supporters like Scott Jennings often find themselves in heated exchanges with liberal guests.
Breakfast Club host Charlamagne Tha God told Phillip at one point that she’d built a “rainbow coalition” on her show.
“I get a lot of criticism from the left, from people who are like ‘Why does she have MAGA people on the show?’ and it’s like, well, you should know what they are saying,” Phillip explained.
Charlamagne agreed with the perspective, while Phillip continued by arguing that simply being “unaware” of Trumpism and those who support it is not helpful to anyone.
“Just so you know, half the country voted for Trump and for Trumpism, and it’s not helpful to be completely unaware of what is happening in those media ecosystems,” she said.
Phillip later mentioned Jillian Michaels as an example of a guest some publicly take issue with, but whose voice it is important to hear. Phillip referenced a heated moment on the show with Michaels centered on the country’s history with slavery.
“I also think it does not do us any favors to pretend like a lot of people don’t agree with Jillian Michaels and that it’s an opportunity for us to correct the record, to educate, to inform, to put facts on the table,” she said.
Phillip added, “can I be real? I know Black people who agree with Jillian Michaels. I’ve heard and not just recently. Her talking point about how slavery existed all in the world, and we overemphasize it here in the United States. I have had Black people say that to me, you know, 10 years ago, 15 years ago.”
The media, she argued, is “fragmented” to the point where people can exist in their own “silos” and be completely unaware of what the other side’s positions are.
“The media is so fragmented right now. Everybody is consuming media in their own silos,” she said. “And a lot of people on the left, liberals or whatever, they have no idea what’s being said in those conservative ecosystems.”
Watch above via The Breakfast Club.
