There have been many recent changes at CNN. Many — including the hiring of CEO Chris Licht — haven’t gotten the Keith Olbermann stamp of approval.
Olbermann shared his disdain for the direction of both CNN and MSNBC during his Countdown with Keith Olbermann podcast, fearing the potential extinction of liberal television could be on the horizon.
“At a time when the nation actually needs cable TV news, and when it’s only means of survival is to only offer compelling, intelligent, well-produced political shows,” Olberman said, “and no, I am not campaigning, they would sooner self-immolate than hire me — instead, the new boss ‘poisoners’ have concluded that the magic bullet is putting Gayle King and Bill Maher on CNN once a week each? And putting Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert on MSNBC whenever they will agree to go on.
“Because — at a time when all the forces that can be brought to bear against democracy, against diversity, against more voters voting more often in more convenient ways — what America needs out of CNN and MSNBC is celebrity interviews from Gayle King and stale, naive, faux-Libertarian, both-sidesist nonsense from what is left over a decade after Bill Maher stopped trying very hard.”
The former cable news host then said he is fond of King, but when the potential soul of the nation is at stake, she isn’t the best person for the job.
“I have nothing against Gayle King. She is a very nice person. I’ve known her so long we met when I was just starting at SportsCenter and she was a local newscaster in Hartford, Connecticut. I know that the CBS morning show that she is on is the best last-place show out of all the dozens of different last-placed shows CBS has produced in the mornings over the decades.”
Olbermann continued by pointing out that a once-a-week cable news program has never succeeded and won’t succeed with King or Maher, either.
