While discussing President Donald Trump’s push to have CNN included in the ongoing Warner Bros. Discovery sale, “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough questioned whether any parties outside or directly involved in the deal would push back against the president’s controversial suggestion.
“It’s preposterous,” Scarborough said during Thursday’s episode of the MS NOW show. “The question is not what the president’s doing to say and do. The question is what are the regulators going to do? What are Republicans in Congress going to do? What are the courts going to do? Are they going to allow a president to destroy a news organization simply because he doesn’t like what they say about him — because that’s the direction he’s headed.”
Scarborough’s remarks come after Trump inserted himself into WBD deal by stating Wednesday that it is “imperative” that CNN be sold as part of any sale agreement for the studio.
“I think CNN should be sold because the people that are running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent,” Trump told reporters during interviews at the White House. Trump’s comments followed promises Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison made about making “sweeping changes” to CNN if it were to buy WBD, its parent company.
Watch the clip below.
“I think any deal, it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately,” Trump added, though he mentioned that he’s “not involved” in the WBD negotiations.
At the top of his remarks, Scarborough suggested that previous presidents wouldn’t be able to get away with any of Trump’s political moves or behavior.
“What if any other president that preceded Donald Trump had ever said that a network or … what if JFK had said the New York Times needs to go away,” Scarborough questioned. “‘Time needs to go away; I don’t like what they’re writing about me.’ What if George W. Bush said Newsweek needs to go away?”
He continued: “What if any of these presidents had said this from time to time? The shock coming from all quarters would be overwhelming. But here, we have a president who is saying just that and saying CNN is untruthful and basically tipping his hat, telling regulators what deals to agree on and what deals not to agree on.”
