CNN staff members are reportedly protesting the network’s hiring of Corey Lewandowski just three days after Donald Trump fired him from the post of campaign manager.
“Everyone at CNN—and even people who used to work there—are pissed about Trump’s former campaign manager being hired on salary,” a source told Page Six.
Lewandowski, who was fired last week, signed an exclusive contract to be a salaried political commenter for CNN, and is expected to join as a pro-Trump commentator. Page Six reported that the hiring decision has especially incensed the women and Latinos on staff, who feel betrayed and “livid” that Lewandowski will be on staff.
At issue is Lewandowski’s history with the media, with women, and his continued support of Trump’s xenophobic comments toward Latinos and Muslims over the past year.
Furthermore, CNN revealed this week that Lewandowski may be legally prevented from saying anything negative about Trump, due to a nondisclosure agreement many Trump campaign employees are required to sign.
Such agreements—and their non-disparagement clauses—are legally difficult to endorse, but Trump’s love of litigation could cause Lewandowski to pause before speaking candidly about his former boss, The Washington Post reported. Even if Trump were to lose an eventual lawsuit, the specter legal fees could intimidate the newly christened pundit.
News networks have been in a tough spot when it comes to finding reputable supporters of Trump who are willing to speak publicly in support of the campaign. While all major campaigns field surrogates they believe represent them, the Trump campaign adopted a largely hands-off approach. And since many establishment Republicans—and mainstream conservative commentators—were slow to come aboard the Trump train (and many still haven’t), networks turned to sometimes peculiar individuals that they would simply introduce as “Trump supporter.”
In any case, Lewandowski—a man who once physically grabbed a reporter and then lied about it, despite video evidence—is likely to prove useful to the campaign. Even after they fired him.
