In the 14 months since former President Donald Trump left the White House, a number of his former staffers have taken high-profile media jobs. Trump's fourth and final White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, took a contributor job at the conservative Fox News network, while his former Economic Council director—Larry Kudlow—took a hosting job at Fox Business. In 2020, Trump's first White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, accepted a hosting job at far-right disinformation outlet, Newsmax.
But while most of these job offers have come from conservative media, more reputable outlets are facing backlash for bringing on defenders of a man who told more than 30 thousand lies over the course of his time in the White House.
The latest network undergoing this is CBS News, which recently announced the hiring of Trump's former chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, much to the chagrin of its staff.
In defending the hire, CBS co-president Neeraj Khemlani said to employees:
“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. A lot of the people that we’re bringing in are helping us in terms of access to that side of the equation.”
A recent Washington Post report highlighted the frustration of CBS employees, who relayed the comments of an unnamed employee who said:
“I know everyone I talked to today was embarrassed about the hiring."
It's not hard to see why. As chief of staff, Mulvaney repeatedly echoed then-President Trump's dismissal of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has gone on to kill nearly a million Americans. Mulvaney even said that coverage about the severity of the pandemic was a media conspiracy against Trump.
People aren't surprised at the employees' outrage, and in fact, they shared it.
Embarrassed is exactly how everyone involved should feel about this, Mulvaney is a known liar who regularly attacked the press and also has massive conflicts of interest with anything CBS News would want him to talk about: https://t.co/ux7iqyJfOq https://t.co/KryG6kqiww
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) March 30, 2022
A media organization is paying a known liar in order to get access to other liars.
What an absolute embarrassment for some very good journalists at CBS. Khmelani is in the wrong business. https://t.co/ymyzvhCKRt
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) March 30, 2022
Once again, Mulvaney is not just some Republican.
He actively participated in Trump's attempted extortion of Ukraine -- the consequences of which are playing out right now. https://t.co/TQkEjZYwta
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) March 30, 2022
This is insane, but it's what they do... in one direction only.
When Trump won in 2016, outlets hired a bunch of Republicans.
When Dems won in 2018... nothing
When Dems won in 2020... nothing
Republicans about to win in 2022... hire more Republicans.
It's a pattern. https://t.co/hJiIR0l9Sl
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) March 30, 2022
This is filthy. What an embarrassment. Access journalism is nothing more than public relations for the worst among us. https://t.co/U5iTeENsda
— Brooke Binkowski (@brooklynmarie) March 30, 2022
So basically @CBS hired a liar to lie to the American people FOR PROFIT.
Quite a decline for a previously well respected, last of the giants for journalistic integrity. #BoycottCBS https://t.co/RnoTlA2CL4
— PsyD/Psychotherapist/LPC-S (@MonicaRivpin) March 30, 2022
Others rejected Khemlani's prediction that Republicans would retake Congress, and they called on Democrats not to sit out in 2022.
Oh hell no.
We. Are. Keeping. The. House.
But only if you’re in to play hardball with me. Step up to the plate with me at: https://t.co/z8bGYK7SmP https://t.co/ZuM8BGidfu
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) March 30, 2022
Check your registration, get your ass to the polls. We're on our own in this fight. https://t.co/gxke3PqKYi
— ⚖️ 💛🐝THEE Most Passionate Twist🇱🇨🇺🇸 (@Ms_MMMJ) March 30, 2022
We MUST prove CBS wrong that believe we'll get
destroyed in the 2022 elections! PLEASE...let's all#HelpEXPLODEtheBLUEvoteIn2022 and also#BoycottCBS #CBSnewFoxWannabe https://t.co/1F1lt8YxEQ
— ResistingForAReturnToSanity 🆘 (@pesterplarson3) March 31, 2022
It's unclear if Mulvaney's job offer is now in jeopardy.
@LeeMerrittesq/X
@bob_moss/X
@jelanijones/Bluesky
@Aurkayne/X
@sadcommunistdog; @froglok/Bluesky