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This humiliating slide comes after CNN leadership made an internal shift in strategy earlier this year. CEO Mark Thompson reportedly instructed producers and hosts to avoid automatically attacking Donald Trump over his previous legal cases, a sharp pivot from the network’s relentless anti-Trump coverage during his first term. The directive: stop “pre-judging” Trump and try to appear more balanced on-air.
But old habits die hard. Conservative media watchdogs continue to pounce on CNN’s blunders, which seem to come with alarming regularity. Last week, Erin Burnett sparked outrage during live coverage of a Manhattan shooting when she incorrectly identified the suspect’s race, claiming the shooter was white.
Trump’s renewed focus on exposing the “Russia hoax” also seemed to irritate some of CNN’s on-air talent. Correspondent Jeff Zeleny appeared visibly frustrated while discussing the topic, remarking, “I’m not sure that this White House wants to, uh, talk about, and I’m not sure that we should spend that much more time on it.” His dismissive tone only added fuel to criticism that CNN is incapable of honestly engaging with topics that undermine its own past narratives.
No CNN personality draws more conservative criticism than Kaitlan Collins, the 32-year-old White House correspondent whose combative style has made her a fixture in viral clips—often for the wrong reasons. She has been publicly shushed by President Trump for interrupting and, when permitted to ask questions, has frequently found them turned back on her. In one memorable exchange, Trump accused her of “disrespecting” military service members after she questioned the effectiveness of strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Adding to CNN’s credibility problems, the network recently featured a far-left medical school graduate who implied she was a practicing physician—despite having never treated a patient. The guest used her platform to push the claim that Trump’s diagnosis of chronic venous insufficiency was far more severe than the White House acknowledged, a statement that critics slammed as politically motivated fearmongering.
With viewership in freefall, the “most trusted name in news” seems to be rapidly losing the trust—and attention—of the American people. Whether it’s the ongoing blunders, the credibility crises, or the fact that more viewers find cooking competitions more engaging than CNN’s reporting, the message from the public is loud and clear: they’ve changed the channel.
