Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann led liberal outrage toward CNN, calling for the network to be “burn[ed] down,” after its moderators otherwise received praise over its forum between President Biden and former President Trump.
While bipartisan voices lauded moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, Olbermann and other Biden loyalists appeared to take their outrage at the president’s performance out on the moderators and network.
“No audience, no moderators, no journalism,” Olbermann fumed as he opened the latest episode of his “Countdown” podcast.
Olbermann called what he characterized as the refusal to “fact-check” former President Trump one of the most “immoral decisions” in the history of American journalism.
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CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. (IM WATSON/AFP via Getty)
“Literally, I am suggesting that at some point tonight CNN should — it will not — go off the air in shame, fire everybody, seal off the buildings, make sure everybody’s out, and burn the Godd— place to the ground,” the onetime ESPN anchor added.
Olbermann lashed out at CNN Worldwide CEO Sir Mark Thompson and called for Bash and Tapper to be “fired for journalistic malpractice” for how the debate went on.
In an interview Friday, Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro – a Biden campaign surrogate – also criticized the network directly to anchor John Berman’s face.
“Frankly, I think CNN could have a done a better job in calling [Trump’s] lies out,” Shapiro said while admitting Biden had a rough night.
“I’ll be the first to admit that…,” Shapiro said, while adding that Biden’s “bad night” is less egregious than Trump being a “bad president.”
Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-N.Y., one of Trump’s staunchest critics who served as Democratic counsel during his impeachment, claimed CNN did not properly push back when the Republican “blatantly mischaracteriz[ed] the disaster that was his presidency.”
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“He intimidated your network,” Goldman told CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.
Former Playboy White House correspondent Brian Karem, a columnist at Salon who was known for his outbursts in the briefing room during Trump’s tenure, also took aim at Bash and Tapper.
“The biggest sin was the fact that the moderators failed to moderate the debate. A complete abdication of journalistic responsibility,” Karem said, according to the Daily Mail.
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff – a former top adviser-turned-critic of former first lady Melania Trump who wrote a “tell-all” about her former boss – criticized CNN’s lighting during the debate.
Wolkoff claimed on X that the network’s choice of framing and lighting design conveyed “intended perceptions of fragility vs. dominance in visual composition.”
“Biden was filmed in profile, looking pale as a ghost. Trump was filmed straight on, not looking his usual shade of tangerine, but more like marmalade,” she said.
“Biden is a man of honor, integrity, resilience, and resolve.”
Meanwhile, liberal actor John Cusack claimed CNN was letting a “deranged liar lie with no consequences,” adding on X that “this is the end, my beautiful friends.”
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In a statement, CNN pointed to the aforementioned bipartisan praise, citing quotes from Republicans, Democrats and Fox News talent Sean Hannity and Charlie Gasparino, defending its debate production.
“The role of the moderators is to present the candidates with questions that are important to American voters and to facilitate a debate, enabling candidates to make their case and challenge their opponent,” a CNN spokesperson said.
“It is up to the candidates to challenge one another in a debate. CNN offered robust fact-checking coverage in post-debate analysis on TV and across our digital platforms during and following the debate’s conclusion.”