Brian Stelter Appears on CNN for First Time Since Firing: ‘Has Anything Happened Since I’ve Been Gone?’
Former CNN host Brian Stelter appeared on the network for the first time since the network dismissed him in August 2022.
The ex-host of Reliable Sources was a fixture at CNN for nine years until his termination in a tumultuous year for the outlet. On Friday, he appeared on The Source, where he discussed his latest book, Network of Lies, with host Kaitlan Collins.
“Brian Stelter is here with me now for his first interview back at CNN,” said Collins, sounding almost giddy. “Welcome back, Brian. How are you?”
“It’s good to be here,” he replied. “Has anything happened since I’ve been gone?”
“No, it feels totally normal,” Collins replied.
“Well, one great thing happened,” he said. “This show. I do watch every night. I’m kind of a junkie.”
“Your show is one of the first ones I was ever on at CNN,” she responded. “I loved working with you.”
Collins pivoted to Stelter’s book, which examines Fox News’ misleading and false coverage of the 2020 presidential election, which some Fox hosts and guests claimed was stolen from Donald Trump. In some cases, network personalities falsely alleged Dominion Voting Systems helped rig the election. Dominion sued for defamation, and Fox eventually settled with the company for $787.5 million.
“The big lie didn’t come out of nowhere,” Stelter told Collins. “It was made to happen.”
He went on to trace the journey of the election lie that began with Fox host Maria Bartiromo and former Trump attorney Sidney Powell.
“It happened very, very specifically the weekend that President Biden was named president-elect,” he said. “Remember that Saturday morning, you know, when the projections were made. Well, 24 hours later on Sunday morning, it was Fox’s Maria Bartiromo and Trump friend Sidney Powell who seeded the story about Dominion that basically said to Trump’s audience, ‘There’s a villain of this story. It’s a company called Dominion. They somehow tricked you. They stole the election and Trump is the victim.'”
Stelter added, “By the following Thursday, Trump started repeating it as well. So, it wasn’t Trump. It was Fox that started it.”
Watch above via CNN.
