National Review Editor Eviscerates CNN: Trump May Be a ‘Habitual Liar and an Unreconstructed Narcissist,’ But So is CNN

The Editor of the conservative National Review is taking flamethrower to CNN.

In a column titled “CNN is Not a News Network,” National Review online editor Charles Cooke absolutely buried CNN for — in his estimation — abandoning news in favor of obsessive coverage of President Donald Trump’s various scandals.

“CNN is a peculiar and unlovely hybrid of progressive propaganda outlet, oleaginous media apologist, sexless cultural scold, and frenzied Donald Trump stalkerblog,” Cooke wrote. He added, “it is absolutely true that President Trump” is a “habitual liar and an unreconstructed narcissist. The trouble is… so is CNN.”

In particular, Cooke took aim at White House correspondent Jim Acosta (“no reporter”), CNN Tonight anchor Don Lemon (“a ‘news anchor’ in the same sense as that in which Nick Saban is a referee”) and Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter.

“Reliable Sources is presented by Brian Stelter, a man who insists that he is not a ‘media critic’ and who is, in a literal sense, correct in this evaluation,” Cooke wrote. “A better description for Stelter might be ‘media apologist,’ or perhaps ‘media sculptor,’ for Stelter clearly believes that his job is to suppress any information that makes the outlets he likes look bad and to highlight any information that he believes makes the outlets he likes look good. He is, in his own mind, the Arbiter of the Press. A National Media Ombudsman. The First Amendment’s Own Inspector General.”

Cooke added, “So self-indulgent has the organization become, in fact, that when I learned this year that it was starting a ‘CNN Hero of the Year’ award, I half-expected to see Brian Stelter tearfully giving it to himself.”