CNBC Host Grills David Ellison on Whether CNN Will Be ‘More Beholden to the Trump Administration’ After He Buys It

CNBC’s David Faber asked Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison on Thursday whether CNN would become “more beholden to the Trump administration” if he received approval from President Donald Trump to take over the cable news network like he did with CBS.

“Unfortunately, the world we live in has a political overlay on almost everything going on in the corporate world, certainly when it comes to news organizations, and there is certainly a perception, and or a fear perhaps, that once you take control of CNN and given the changes you’ve made at CBS that you will be more beholden to the Trump administration,” said Faber during an interview with Ellison. “Can you address that, that potential fear, at least on the part of many?”

Ellison responded, “So look, I’ve said this since the beginning, which is, you know, when it really comes to– editorial independence will absolutely be maintained. It’s maintained at CBS, it’ll be maintained at CNN.”

“And really, who we want to talk to is the 70% of Americans and really around the world that identify a center-left and center-right, and we want to be in the truth business, we want to be in the trust business,” he concluded. “That’s not going to change.”

Last week, following news that Warner Bros. Discovery had decided to abandon a deal with Netflix in favor of a deal with Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, Variety reported that CNN staffers “devastated,” with “palpable dread” over the possibility of Ellison taking over the network.

Ellison – the son of billionaire Trump ally Larry Ellison – took over CBS News last year after the Trump administration approved a merger between Skydance and Paramount Global. Following the merger, Ellison appointed pro-Israel commentator Bari Weiss as CBS News’ new editor-in-chief, and critics say the network’s coverage has shifted towards being more friendly to the Trump administration.

In December, it was reported that David Ellison had promised Trump “sweeping changes” at CNN should he succeed in a takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

One month prior, it was also reported that Larry Ellison had spoken with Trump about axing two of the president’s least favorite hosts at CNN: Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar.

Watch above via CNBC.

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