OPINION | Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those held by Sarah Palin.
Leaked audiotapes reveal Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN, has urged the network not to ‘normalize’ Trump’s ‘erratic’ behavior, according to Fox News.
“OK, I just want to re-emphasize that, you know, I think we cannot normalize what has happened here in the last week with Trump and his behavior,” Zucker is heard saying.
“And I go back to what [CNN political Director] David, David Chalian said, that this is a president who knows he’s losing, who knows he’s in trouble, is sick, maybe is on the after-effects of steroids or not.”
“I don’t know, but he is acting erratically and desperately, and we need to, we need to not normalize that. … He is all over the place and acting erratically. And I think we need to lean into that.”
BREAKING: @CNN President BLASTS Trump & Republicans on 9am Call with Senior Leadership
'He(@realDonaldTrump) is acting erratically…I think we need to lean into that…'
“If we’ve made any mistake, its been our banners have been too polite…”#CNNTapes pic.twitter.com/zMIRxq9qC6
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) December 2, 2020
“The Trump media, you know, moves immediately from — OK, well, never mind — the unmasking was, you know, found to be completely nonsensical to the latest alleged scandal and expects everybody to just follow suit,” Zucker explained to his staff.
“So, I don’t think that we should be repeating unsubstantiated smears just because the rightwing media suggests that we should.”
“On the issue of why it’s important to get the transition going right, the 9/11 report talks about one of the problems was that the trouble that was brewing that [got] lost during the transition,” Becker explained.
“So, if you want a good, concrete example of what happens when you don’t have a good transition, well, look at the Twin Towers.”
“Yeah, so I think that’s an important point,” Zucker responded. “I think it was just a little bit yesterday in terms of national security. I think it’s really important to raise again. … I would encourage folks to think about that 9/11 Commission Report and the lack of transition.”
CNN's Zucker equates @realDonaldTrump not conceding and letting the transition go through to what happened when America was attacked on 9/11/2001
”I would encourage folks to think about that 9-11 commission report and the lack of transition” #CNNTapes pic.twitter.com/LoCqh79pOG
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) December 2, 2020
BREAKING: @Project_Veritas LIVE STREAMS President Jeff Zucker’s 9am Editorial Phone Call With @CNN Senior Leadership #ExposeCNN https://t.co/b0xQvRtADv
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) December 1, 2020
From Fox News:
In a Nov. 17 recording, the CNN honcho defended the network’s infamous highly editorialized on-air graphics, saying, “If we’ve made any mistake, it’s been that our banners have been too polite.”
He also urged his staff that they “need to go well after Lindsey Graham,” which is likely in reference to alleged communications the South Carolina Republican senator had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who claimed Graham urged him to throw out certain ballots to help President Trump, something Graham vehemently denied.
“There is a lot of news out there, and Lindsey Graham really deserves it,” Zucker reiterated.
Several articles were written and published Nov. 17 about Graham on CNN’s website, including a piece accusing him of “crossing the line” to defend Trump.
Later Tuesday during “Hannity,” O’Keefe did not appear to be threatened by CNN’s tweet, saying “We have legal experts at Project Veritas and we think that Jeff Zucker is just mad and embarrassed here for what we have exposed.”