CBS News Under Fire For Hiring Former Trump Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney
CBS News is under fire for hiring Mick Mulvaney, the former congressman, and Trump administration official, as a contributor.
CBS said in a Tuesday statement that Mulvaney “will contribute political analysis across the Network’s broadcasts and platforms.”
“Mulvaney previously held prominent roles under the Trump administration, including director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), acting White House chief of staff, and U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland,” the statement said. “Previously, Mulvaney served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a congressman representing South Carolina’s 5th district.”
Mulvaney made his first appearance on CBS News Tuesday morning. On to discuss President Joe Biden’s tax plan, Mulvaney was introduced by anchor Anne-Marie Green only as “a former Office of Management and Budget director.”
Former OMB Director @MickMulvaney, who joins CBS News as a contributor, breaks down President Biden’s tax plan on wealthy Americans pic.twitter.com/Wh1m823631
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 29, 2022
The hire quickly drew outrage from journalists and pundits. Many pointed out Mulvaney’s role in downplaying the Covid-19 pandemic, his defending former President Donald Trump’s attempt to withhold military aid from Ukraine in exchange for dirt on the Biden family, and his bold claim in an op-ed before the 2020 election that Trump would gracefully concede if he lost.
“If He Loses, Trump Will Concede Gracefully,” Mulvaney wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed the day before the 2020 election. Trump would go on to mount an extensive propaganda campaign attacking the election — a campaign that ultimately convinced a majority of Republicans of the delusion the election was stolen and fueled the bloody riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
CBS News did not respond to a request for comment.
Just a reminder: as he downplayed COVID publicly and portrayed mitigation measures as a scheme to damage Donald Trump, Mick Mulvaney was liquidating as much as $550,000 in stock holdings https://t.co/kD81h2coXT https://t.co/GXpSDTCkQs
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) March 29, 2022
Just reminded of Mulvaney’s prediction that Trump would “concede gracefully,” even as Trump signaled for months before the 2020 election that he wouldn’t accept the results or commit to a peaceful transfer of power. CBS has now hired Mulvaney to provide political analysis. https://t.co/MMfpGDtszt pic.twitter.com/GsLR7d0wSu
— Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) March 29, 2022
Frankly dumbfounded by this. Neither Mulvaney’s extensive roles in the Trump administration, nor his time as a GOP member of Congress and co-founder of the Freedom Caucus, are ever mentioned. He’s introduced simply as “former OMB director and CBS News contributor” https://t.co/NEKhH4JcUZ
— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) March 29, 2022
Also, Mulvaney’s day job now is literally “lobbyist for the rich and powerful,” i.e. precisely the people who would be affected by the wealth tax. Massive conflict of interest here, and straight-up unethical for @CBSNews to not disclose. https://t.co/xk6bpnktrB pic.twitter.com/lfb79x3Pms
— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) March 29, 2022
Put aside the fact that Mick Mulvaney spent four years repeatedly lying to the American people as a member of the Trump administration … how do you ask a known partisan to offer an “analysis” of Joe Biden’s tax plan? https://t.co/mOujJySmAH
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) March 29, 2022
Mulvaney wasn’t just ex OMB chief. He was the acting chief of staff in the Trump White House. He lied, he misled, he covered up. And he enabled an authoritarian, far-right president. Now he’s giving ‘commentary’ on Biden’s tax plan as a paid CBS News contributor. Amazing. 🤦🏽♂️
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) March 29, 2022
CBS hired Mulvaney, Trump’s ex chief of staff, a guy who told America his boss would concede the election “gracefully;” that the media was hyping Covid-19 to undermine 45; that Trump never demanded anything from Zelensky in return for aid.
Trustworthiness used to matter to CBS. https://t.co/lF0TZzBC1P
— Helen Kennedy 🌻 (@HelenKennedy) March 29, 2022
Mulvaney is not the first former Trump official to join the media so frequently attacked by Trump as “fake news.” The revolving door between the Trump White House and Fox News achieved legendary status during his presidency, but other networks have also snapped up former underlings of the 45th president.
Former Trump communications chief Alyssa Farah joined CNN as a political commentator — after performing a ritual disavowal of the former president — and is now trying out for a hosting seat on The View along with Stephanie Grisham.
Sara Isgur, who served as spokeswoman for Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions, joined CNN in 2019, prompting a similar outcry to the one currently meeting Mulvaney. She later left CNN for ABC News.
