Appearing as a guest on Sunday's Reliable Sources on CNN, Daily Beast editor-in-chief and CNN political commentator John Avlon painted Fox News and the conservative media as "appeasing the crocodile" of Donald Trump "hoping that it eats you last" as he also blamed Trump's rise on Republicans chasing moderate "RINOs" out of the party.
At about 11:30 a.m. ET, host Brian Stelter replayed clips of Avlon from last June sounding dismissive of Trump's candidacy before asking the Daily Beast editor if he had any regrets about his original analysis in which he had argued that Trump "is a reality TV show star trying to run to pump up his profile even more because he's drunk on pure ego."
Avlon defended his contention and went after Republicans for targeting "RINOs" as he responded:
I think that holds up pretty well. I think what happened is the dog caught the car. I mean, what began as a marketing exercise ended up being a massively successful presidential campaign because it reflects the fact that the Republican Party has RINO hunted to such an extent that its base is narrow and not representative of the nation at large. So they were really susceptible to this kind of celebrity demagoguery.
Avlon soon patted himself on the back for foreseeing a "celebrity demagogue" as he recalled his book Wingnuts: Extremism in the Age of Obama about political polarization -- an irony given his own Daily Beast staff's history of making crude jokes about former Vice President Dick Cheney's heart problems.
Host Stelter then asked a question based on the premise that Fox News had helped create circumstances favorable for Trump to get support by being negative toward President Barack Obama since the beginning of his presidency. Stelter:
I was curious for your point about that because around the time you were writing that book it was early on in the Obama administration. Fox News was vehemently against Obama, since it has been since day one. Conservative media in general has taken a very anti-Obama position. Now, the President has recently argued that that contributed to the rise of Trump. He argued that by creating this sort of environment that was very toxic, that it created an atmosphere and kind of environment for Trump to thrive. Do you believe that's true?
The Daily Beast editor then made his crocodile appeasement analogy in going after Fox News and conservatives:
I absolutely believe that's true. You see it even now in the divide within Fox News where, you know, Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier, the journalists over there are constantly trying to defend each other from Trump's attacks while the opinion anchors on the other side are busy giving him sort of back rubs on national TV. This is what happens when you try to get in the business where you appease the crocodile hoping that it eats you last. That's what's happened in the Republican Party right now, and the state of conservative media is a reflection of that as well.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Sunday, March 27, Reliable Sources on CNN:
BRIAN STELTER: Let's take a look back at some of the months of coverage with John Avlon, editor-in-chief of another new media triumph, the Daily Beast, and a CNN political analyst. We went back in time a little bit to the day Donald Trump announced his candidacy. We wanted to see what kind of predictions were made on the air that day. And we did find one from you, John, so let me play it, and I'll get your reaction to it.
JOHN AVLON, DAILY BEAST: Oh, good. Thank you, Brian. I'll look forward to this.
AVLON FROM JUNE 16, 2015, CLIP #1: I'm not writing off that some people, you know, as P.T. Barnam said, "There's a sucker born every minute." And there will be enough to show up for the Republican primary to make him pull. But let's offer just a reality check.
AVLON FROM JUNE 16, 2015, CLIP #2: This is a reality TV show star trying to run to pump up his profile even more because he's drunk on pure ego.
STELTER: Trying to pump up his profile. So, John, do you think you were right on that day? Do you maybe wish you could take it back a little bit?
AVLON: No, no, I think that holds up pretty well. I think what happened is the dog caught the car. I mean, what began as a marketing exercise ended up being a massively successful presidential campaign because it reflects the fact that the Republican Party has RINO hunted to such an extent that its base is narrow and not representative of the nation at large. So they were really susceptible to this kind of celebrity demagoguery.
(...)
AVLON: This Trump phenomenon also didn't come from out of nowhere. You know, I wrote a book called Wingnuts five years ago. And what this is about as much as anything is the combination of the polarization of the Republican Party and the appearance of a celebrity demagogue. And so, you know, while Trump couldn't have been predicted -- and I agree we shouldn't get too deep in the predicting business -- there are deeper trends that have led to this moment, and those we should have been covering for a long time. And at the Beast I think we've attempted to, and other people have as well.
STELTER: You know, that's interesting about the larger trends. I was curious for your point about that because around the time you were writing that book it was early on in the Obama administration. Fox News was vehemently against Obama, since it has been since day one. Conservative media in general has taken a very anti-Obama position. Now, the President has recently argued that that contributed to the rise of Trump. He argued that by creating this sort of environment that was very toxic, that it created an atmosphere and kind of environment for Trump to thrive. Do you believe that's true?
AVLON: I absolutely believe that's true. You see it even now in the divide within Fox News where, you know, Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier, the journalists over there are constantly trying to defend each other from Trump's attacks while the opinion anchors on the other side are busy giving him sort of back rubs on national TV. This is what happens when you try to get in the business where you appease the crocodile hoping that it eats you last. That's what's happened in the Republican Party right now, and the state of conservative media is a reflection of that as well.
