Donald Trump ‘Single-Handedly’ Saved Cable News Careers, Journalist Says
Journalist Glenn Greenwald believes the presidency of Donald Trump “single-handedly” saved the careers of many cable news hosts.
“People forget that in 2014 and 2015 almost nobody was watching MSNBC and CNN,” he tweeted.
“So many of their hosts were on the verge of being fired, their shows cancelled. Trump single-handedly saved their careers: fear keeps people clinging to those shows, and they squeezed him for all of it.”
Greenwald’s comments were a response to author Matt Stoller, who highlighted the shift in metrics for U.S. audiences watching weekday primetime cable news shows. According to Nielsen National People Meter via Showbuzz Daily, CNN viewership from January 25 through January 29 declined by 43.69 percent at the 8 p.m. hour. The dip came among viewers aged 2 and up watching the programs either live or with 24-hours of their airtime.
During the same time period, MSNBC took a dip of 18.83 percent. Conversely, the conservative Fox News experienced only a -5.98 percent during this same slot.
Still, USA Today previously reported that CNN topped Fox News in post-Trump Neilsen ratings from Election Day through Inauguration Day. As The Inquisitr reported, the drop marked the first time that Fox News’ ratings lagged behind CNN or MSNBC in 20 years.
“Again: those who hated Trump most flamboyantly and monomaniacally —- especially on TV — were the ones whose careers and bank accounts benefited most from him,” Greenwald claimed.
The former Intercept journalist said networks like MSNBC and CNN are now “desperately in search of a replacement.”
“The only hope for these networks is to convince viewers America is on the verge of civil war, an existential threat to democracy.”
With Trump gone, freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene appears to have taken some of the spotlight for her previous calls for violence against Democrats and support for unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. Notably, she appeared to be supportive of the execution of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a 2018 Facebook post.
In an op-ed for Fox News, Tucker Carlson argued that the media wants viewers fixated on Greene. According to the commentator, the media’s focus on the congresswoman is due to Trump’s absence.
Carlson also argued the focus on Greene takes the attention away from other concerning developments in American life, including the populist battle against Wall Street and the reported new American troops that President Joe Biden recently sent to Syria.
Trump has notably eyed plans for his own cable news network. Per Quartz, the former American leader wants to compete with Fox News — a network he became increasingly frustrated with due to what he perceived as unfair coverage toward his re-election campaign.
