CNN, under the leadership of CEO Chris Licht for the past year or so has desperately tried to rebrand as a “centrist network” after dedicating years to the Democratic Cause ™ and four years of constant bashing of the then-President Donald Trump.
It would be an understatement to say that Licht has not been successful. The new lineup has not been able to attract the remaining viewers of CNN. CNN’s “This Morning”, with co-hosts Kaitlan Collin, Poppy Hardlow and Don Lemon, is one of the worst failures.
Lemon’s treatment of his female colleagues like Collins was criticized for months. Lemon is said to have shouted at Collins after the December show did not go as he had hoped.
Collins has become more popular as Lemon’s has faded. Collins will not only be hosting Wednesday’s New Hampshire townhall featuring Trump but Licht is also reportedly preparing to give Collins her own prime-time program slot, something that CNN took away from Lemon months before it fired him:
This week I learned that CNN’s chief executive plans to offer Kaitlan an extension of her contract as host of the 9 p.m. primetime show, which used to be the domain of Chris Cuomo and, briefly, Jake Tapper. Collins’ rapid rise from a 20-something Trump White House reporter to the network’s marquee celebrity and face of Licht’s New CNN could be announced next week.
As I mentioned a week earlier, Kaitlan has now become the main talent Licht will be relying on to pivot into the middle. The ill-fated Tapper Primetime experiment clearly didn’t work.
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Kaitlan’s job offer isn’t contingent on how she performs at tonight’s Town Hall, but given the Trump X factor, these 90 minutes could change, accelerate or slow down the trajectory of her career. Just ask Megyn. Her performance tonight, at the very least will set the tone of a new Collins-era at CNN that, barring any f**kups, should last at least until the 2024 presidential elections.
I can imagine Lemon’s reaction when he hears that the anchor that he (rightfully) disliked at his former job has been given the chance to succeed in the place where he, and the other ex-CNNer Chris Cuomo, failed.
Bobby Burack, of Outkick, said, “Don Lemon must be fuming, as he already does not like women.”
Indeed. It’s a great honor.
