CBS News Hired Mick Mulvaney in Anticipation of Midterm ‘Wipeout’ for Democrats, But That’s Just the Beginning
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CBS News has been under sustained fire for its hiring of former Donald Trump Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and that may only be a harbinger of controversies to come as the make-up of Congress hangs in the balance this November.
The Washington Post‘s Jeremy Barr reported on Wednesday that the hire was part of a bigger plan on the part of CBS News to stock up on Republicans ahead of the midterms and the potentially catastrophic result for the Democrats.
“A top network executive seemed to lay the groundwork for the decision in a staff meeting earlier this month when he said the network needed to hire more Republicans to prepare for a ‘likely’ Democratic midterm wipeout,” Barr reported, referring to co-president of CBS News Neeraj Khemlani.
The obvious reasoning at play is the matter of access, as Barr demonstrated by quoting from a recording obtained by The Washington Post.
Some context on the Mick Mulvaney hiring:
According to an audio recording I obtained, CBS News co-prez Neeraj Khemlani told staff earlier this month that CBS needed to hire more Republicans for “access” reasons because the GOP would likely win midterms.https://t.co/oxbRZUzMWm
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) March 30, 2022
From the article:
“If you look at some of the people that we’ve been hiring on a contributor basis, being able to make sure that we are getting access to both sides of the aisle is a priority because we know the Republicans are going to take over, most likely, in the midterms,” CBS News’s co-president Neeraj Khemlani told the staff of the network’s morning show, according to a recording of his comments obtained by The Washington Post. “A lot of the people that we’re bringing in are helping us in terms of access to that side of the equation.”
NBC’s Chuck Todd on Wednesday reflected most of the temperature-taking on the midterms when he warned that polling shows Democrats are entering “shellacking territory.”
WaPo outlined the negative backlash against Mulvaney not just in the rest of the media or online, but among CBS News employees as well. He noted, however, that there was a “far more muted” backlash when CBS hired H.R. McMaster as a contributor just a few weeks back.
The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday had a similar report, de-emphasizing internal resistance to the hires but likewise making the point about access, after speaking to an unnamed employee.
A CBS News employee tells The Hollywood Reporter that outrage inside the network has not matched that from outside observers. While they said they thought Mulvaney’s first appearance should have made clearer his roles in the Trump administration, ultimately what matters is that Mulvaney and McMaster are giving their unvarnished thoughts and opinions, while acknowledging their political histories and leanings. Don’t be surprised if future appearances make the Trump connection more obvious.
But the hiring of Mulvaney and McMaster are also signs of early jockeying for 2024. Midterm years are often seen as an opportunity by TV news outlets to restock their contributor roster in advance of a presidential election year. Meanwhile, Trump is strongly considering another presidential run, and even if he doesn’t, he is expected to have a powerful role in any primary process.
THR argues that the trend will be reflected more broadly as the election approaches. It’s possible that the influence Donald Trump will have on the actual election is being overestimated by the media, but the anticipation of a shifting balance of congressional power seems to be a safe bet.
In that regard, CBS News may have made a controversial pick, but has certainly sent the loudest signal — or drawn first blood, depending on how you like your metaphors.
