On Thursday’s edition of his eponymous radio show, Dennis Prager accused CNN of perpetuating a “fraud” by marketing Rick Wilson – who works for MSNBC and the Daily Beast – as a “Republican strategist.”
During a Wednesday appearance on CNN, Wilson denigrated President Donald Trump’s “core supporters” as racists wanting to deport “anybody who’s darker than a latte.”
Prager assessed CNN’s intentions in identifying Wilson as a “Republican strategist.” He said, “There’s a profound intellectual dishonesty that takes place on CNN and other left-wing media. I don’t mind if they’re left. I don’t mind it. I mind if they deny. I’ve always said this… What bothers me is when they have pseudo-Republicans on and the catch-all phrase is ‘strategist.’ By the way, in my long life, why is that I have never met a strategist. Where do these people work? I guess they must all work in Washington.”
CNN is dishonest in its presentation of itself as a politically unbiased and non-partisan news media outlet, suggested Prager.
Prager noted how “Republican strategists” featured on CNN are typically of the Never-Trump variety. He observed how the label “Republican strategist” is used by news media outlets such as CNN to create an illusion of broad bipartisan consensus around partisan left-wing positions.
He remarked, “Somehow CNN finds all these Republican strategists who loathe President Trump as much as the most hardened Democrat, and then they say, ‘Look, we have both sides.’ Now, is that honest? I don’t think so… Here is the guy I’ve never heard of before. This is the guy, Rick Wilson, and what he has to say is truly loathsome. It’s just mean-spirited, aside from [being] intellectually vapid.”
Prager described CNN’s dishonest pretext of bipartisan presentation of views as self-destructive to the company’s brand.
“Why does CNN, when they do this, why do they think they’ll get away with it?” asked Prager. “Do you not understand you make yourself look foolish when you do this? You think we’re that stupid? You label a person a Republican, he craps on the president, and the Democrat craps on the president, and now you say, ‘Look, we brought to you both sides.’ Who do you think you’re fooling?”
Prager added, “This is the level of lowlife that CNN puts on as a Republican. This says much more about CNN than it does about Rick Wilson. Rick Wilson is just filthy, but for CNN to offer him as a Republican… that’s just not acceptable.”
Other commentators marketed by CNN as representative of American conservativism include Amanda Carpenter, David Frum, Bill Kristol, Matt Lewis, Ana Navarro, Tara Setmayer, and Bret Stephens.
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