Remember when former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields was grabbed by former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and was refused an apology, instead having her reputation slandered all over pro-Trump media? Remember when she was offered a job at the Huffington Post, then mocked for joining the liberal media?
Remember when the battery charges against Lewandowski were mocked by pro-Trump media, when Lewandowski was fired by the Trump campaign, and then accepted a job at CNN?
CNN doesn’t.
Despite controversy surrounding his assault charges and losing his former position with Trump, Lewandowski found his home at CNN three days later on Thursday, where he held his first in-studio interview with Dana Bash. It is unclear whether Trump had given his blessing to Lewandowski before he joined CNN, but Lewandowski already asserted his loyalty to Trump in the interview.
“I had a nice conversation with Mr. Trump, and I said to him, it’s been an honor and a privilege, and I mean that,” he told Bash.
CNN, a network often criticized by Trump and sometimes labeled “Hitler” by his supporters, made some press earlier this year for hiring other Trump supporters, some even at the recommendation of Trump himself. Trump has maintained a friendly relationship with CNN’s president Jeff Zucker, whom he allegedly called his “personal booker.”
But that didn’t stop Trump from tweeting this criticism of a CNN piece minutes before the news of Lewandowski’s hiring was made public, using links from Breitbart:
Lewandowski’s relationship with reporters has been rocky in the past. At a Trump rally in Worcester, Massachusetts, Lewandowski reportedly told campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks to “Tell Noah [Gray], get back in the pen or he’s f***ing blacklisted.” At another event in Palm Beach, Florida, Lewandowski reportedly pushed Gray away from Trump as the reporter was asking a question. According to Politico, Lewandowski had personally placed a Politico reporter on the Trump campaign’s “blacklist.” Not long after that, he grabbed Michelle Fields by her arm and pulled her away as she was asking a question from Trump.
Nonetheless, Republicans seem to be backing CNN’s newest decision and congratulating Lewandowski for the “good move.” Rick Tyler, Senator Ted Cruz’s former communications director, who was fired for spreading a false rumor about Senator Marco Rubio and soon after was hired by MSNBC, said Lewandowski “seems to be really where I was.”
“He worked for Trump, was loyal to Trump and will continue to be loyal to Trump, and he has maintained he wants to continue to help him. I don’t know if that’s a result of his NDA or probably more likely he just feels personally loyal to him,” Tyler added.
Trump’s supporters seem to encourage the move as well, even using it to bash Michelle Fields, despite their previous mockery of GOP public figures who join politically left-wing news companies:
It is unclear whether Lewandowski will still be allowed to speak freely of his thoughts on Trump due to his previously signed non-disclosure agreement with the campaign, but he is “expected to address that during his interview on Thursday night,” CNN Money reports.
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