There has long been a sinking feeling that the folks over at CNN feel invincible as if they could get away with anything, and with impunity.
And why not? They’ve made a massive career for themselves as a “news” network while openly acting in only their best interests, and taking the sensational infotainment genre to numbingly imbecilic levels.
Now they’re catching flak for allowing two network stars to return and remain on the payroll despite some horrifying scandals.
The media industry and CNN viewers were stunned Thursday when legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin returned for the first time since his Zoom masturbation incident in October, prompting questions about standards and accountability at the liberal network.
Toobin, who was swiftly fired from The New Yorker last year after he exposed himself on the video conferencing service, will receive a second chance from CNN, where he’s been an analyst for nearly 20 years. Toobin’s awkward return came weeks after the network decided not to punish anchor Chris Cuomo after it was reported he offered political advice to his brother, Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, amid his sexual misconduct scandal.
The backlash was tough.
“Liberals can say and do anything at CNN without getting fired,” Independent Women’s Voice senior policy analyst Kelsey Bolar told Fox News.
“As a believer in forgiveness and redemption, I don’t support ‘cancelling’ Jeffrey Toobin for good. However, after performing this lewd act and becoming notorious for it, there are undoubtedly hundreds, if not thousands of better-qualified candidates, for the role of a public-facing CNN legal analyst,” Bolar said. “It says a lot about the network’s values that it would choose to rehire a man who masturbated on a Zoom call in front of his colleagues — would the same happen if it were a woman? Or, if his name were Rick Santorum? Of course not.”
Santorum lost his job last month as the network’s token Republican for telling a conservative crowd that immigrants had created a nation “from nothing” based on Judeo-Christian values. The Republican political commentator was shown the door over comments that offended some liberals, while Toobin and Cuomo have kept their jobs despite embarrassing CNN with their conduct.
This is either a major mistake by the network, or it is their way of telling the world that they will be doing whatever they wish from here on out, ethics be damned.
