“Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough warned Republicans on Friday they will suffer “blowback” for the $8 billion Paramount-Skydance merger that was just approved by the FCC.
Scarborough said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr set a “horrible precedent” by “openly picking winners and losers” based on his political and social leanings. Another issue, the MSNBC anchor said, was CBS recently settling a lawsuit with President Trump for $16 million over its editing of a Kamala Harris interview last year — a decision that was “shocking,” Scarborough said, and contributed to the bad optics around the Paramount-Skydance merger.
“For Republicans, it’s just completely stupid,” Scarborough said about the deal. “I’ve been in Washington 30 years, there’s always blowback.”
Republicans, he added, should not be surprised when a different party holds the White House in the future and has a new FCC chairman “tip the scales” in its favor.
New York Times reporter Peter Baker agreed with Scarborough, saying this “would have been a scandal” for other administrations. Baker also said legal experts viewed the “60 Minutes” lawsuit as “bogus,” but Paramount shareholders felt compelled to settle with the president to make sure the Skydance deal was approved.
And to help increase the odds the FCC would sign off on the merger, Skydance boss David Ellison met with Carr recently to discuss the deal. Ellison told Carr that new Paramount would be focused on “American storytelling.” He then committed to the appointment of an ombudsman and the elimination of the media giant’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Carr, soon after the $8 billion deal was given the green light on Thursday, said he was “pleased” that Skydance was going to make “serious changes” to CBS.
“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly,” Carr said on Thursday. “It is time for a change.”
Scarborough scoffed at that comment on Friday morning when he read it aloud, saying “Okay, Brendan, whatever you say, buddy.”
