CNN Guests Marvel Over Obama and His Defense of Media; Powers Dissents

Matthew Balan | January 19, 2017
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[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]

David Gergen and Douglas Brinkley gushed over President Barack Obama during a panel discussion on the 18 January 2017 edition of CNN Tonight. Gergen played up the Democrat's defense of the media during his final press conference, and later claimed that Mr. and Mrs. Obama "didn't have a big scandal in eight years. That's very rare." Brinkley touted how "the press/media loves Barack Obama right now," and contended that "what's helping Barack Obama's legacy with the press is Donald Trump....By comparison, he's like St. Augustine up there talking to the flock."

USA Today's Kirsten Powers countered by spotlighting the chief executive's hostile actions towards the press: "I do think its worth reflecting a little bit on President Obama's legacy and how he interacted with the media — which really wasn't very good....Jill Abramson, the former executive editor of the New York Times, said this White House was the most secretive White House she had ever dealt with. They waged a war on whistle-blowers."

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