A clash over Donald Trump’s new round-the-clock video channel has turned into a war of words between the White House and CNN anchor Erin Burnett. After Burnett compared the project to North Korean state television, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung responded by attacking the journalist personally and using an ableist slur against her.
White House calls out CNN’s Erin Burnett after she called out Donald Trump’s new project
Erin Burnett made the comparison during Tuesday’s edition of CNN’s Out Front. She argued that repeatedly replaying Trump’s public appearances resembled the programming of North Korea’s KCTV, which regularly broadcasts Kim Jong Un’s speeches and appearances. Burnett called Trump’s operation a “weird form of state TV” and questioned why viewers would want to repeatedly watch events such as his inauguration.
Cheung gave The Daily Beast a blunt response when the outlet sought comment. He called Burnett “a racist and a r—-d.” The statement prompted CNN to defend its anchor, with a spokesperson describing Burnett as an “exceptional journalist” who would continue asking difficult questions, pursuing facts and scrutinizing people in power.
The exchange followed the White House launch of its 24-hour streaming channel Monday. The service has already shown Trump’s second inauguration, his Mt. Rushmore address from early July, and remarks delivered at a banquet at Windsor Castle in the U.K. Burnett also pointed to the channel’s early audience figures, saying only a few thousand people watched Monday night before viewership fell below 1,000 early Tuesday.
Burnett also pushed back against criticism from former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told Fox News host Sean Hannity that television networks should have aired Trump’s remarks live and let audiences decide whether to watch.
Burnett argued that news organizations, rather than the administration, determine what they broadcast. She said automatically airing presidential remarks would create something resembling “state television.”
Cheung has previously directed the same r-slur at other people, according to The Daily Beast. The outlet reported that he had used it against members of Congress, a Senate staffer and Joanna Coles, the publication’s chief content officer, as recently as last month.
