Trump's most ardent defenders have disappeared from the airwaves as his campaign flounders: report
According to a report from the Daily Beast, defenders of Donald Trump have all but disappeared from the cable news networks at a time when his campaign is floundering and he needs all the help he can get.
Dating back to his surprise election in 2016, MSNBC and CNN had no problem booking guests to defend Trump, but now many of those same people are no longer seen for reasons that include being banned for comments they made, or, in the case of more than a few, they have turned on the president.
According to the report, "Four years later, that enthusiastic and absurd Trump surrogate operation was almost nowhere to be found. Some of the most ubiquitous 2016 Trump backers and GOP convention speakers had been absorbed into the administration. But many have simply disappeared from the defend-Trump news gauntlet, often by flaming out in spectacular fashion. And several had even publicly turned on the president, trashing him in the press as a racist and an existential threat to the republic."
According to conservative Scottie Nell Hughes who made frequent appearances on multiple networks to defends the president, some of his earlier supporters no longer have the backing of the White House.
“It’s sad to see those who have been with President Trump since the very beginning not being properly rewarded for their loyalty,” Hughes explained. "The reason you’re not seeing many of the same 2016 people running defense for [Trump] and his agenda is because people’s lives and livelihood have been destroyed, and for what gain? Only to be left behind by the 2020 campaign and by the administration.”
With one cable executive pointing out, "All of the people front and center in 2016 completely flamed out," the Beast's Maxwell Tani and Asawin Suebsaeng added, "The exodus of Trump’s 2016 surrogate team is, in part, a microcosm writ large of the troubles the president is experiencing electorally. People who were once close to him have scurried away. Dubious ethical decisions have complicated the message. And others, like a chunk of the country, are simply exhausted by the show."
What is concerning to the White House is not just the lack of supporters making the cable TV rounds, but the ones who have turned on the president and now appear only to dish dirt and attack the president.
"Others who frequently appeared on television to boost Trump are now Trumpworld turncoats. Reality television star Omarosa Manigault Newman, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, former Trump campaign official A.J. Delgado, and Cohen all regularly appeared on television to boost the then-Republican candidate in 2016. Now, they openly criticize the president and his campaign," the report notes.
"The lack of regular on-air Trump supporters has come after cable news took heavy criticism for running unfiltered pro-Trump commentary during the ‘16 cycle. And top executives at the networks—and even some social media companies—have made changes to ensure that the president doesn’t overwhelm their airwaves and websites in ways his critics alleged he did," the Beast report. "But television news higher-ups who spoke to The Daily Beast say it is mostly a result of lack of interest by producers and news organizations in sycophantic guests without official jobs in the campaign or administration."
According to one cable news insider, "The networks don’t want someone on there to just spin for Trump no matter what.”
You can read more here.