Carrying on the tradition of celebrating a leftist with a softball interview, the latest “Talk” page at the back of the New York Times Sunday magazine showcased Christiane Amanpour, CNN international correspondent and leftist host of Amanpour, in “Christiane Amanpour Wants More Local News.”
Amanpour is known at Newsbusters for her globalist liberalism and anti-conservative hostility, and an excerpt from her interview with Audie Cornish (of National Public Radio as well) shows why, as she portrayed Trump’s attacks on the national political press and his “tribalistic policies” as threats to democracy.
Cornish: You’ve been at CNN for 35 years. What has it been like for you, as one of the primary voices of the network, having President Trump make it a target?
Amanpour: Of course I’m outraged, but I don’t take it personally. I think it’s just a silly distraction. But do I think that we’re in trouble? Not one iota.
Cornish: The criticism would be that CNN benefits from the attention.
Amanpour: Well, that might’ve been true in the early days, but I don’t think anybody benefits from this kind of sustained assault. It’s not just damaging to a network -- it’s damaging to civil society and to the United States’ democracy, which is based on knowing the difference between truth and lies. Truth leads to democracy, lies lead to dictatorship and this is where I think people, whether it’s the president or people around him, are not fully aware of the real impact of what they’re saying. It drives wedges between people, and if anything, these recent elections have told us that the population has become so polarized that people can be affected by lies that are peddled and empty promises that are made, tribalistic policies that are rammed down people’s throats, and you have to be really, really careful.
Strong words for a journalist who works for the truth-challenged CNN, home of Jim Acosta and Don Lemon, but Cornish didn't offer a challenge. Cornish gushed on Twitter that Amanpour was "One of my favorite journalists!" Hardly the sign of a hard-hitting interviewee.
Amanpour raised the same concerns earlier this month in a loving interview with the so-brave renegade Republican Sen. Jeff Flake on her CNN show of January 15:
....it has enabled many foreign leaders to take a book -- take a page out of President Trump's book and batter us over the head with that fake news, but specifically to the U S democracy. What bothers you about it? Do you think that the U.S. democracy is fragile enough to succumb to this kind of as you say relentless daily attack on the press?
