CNN hired a former aide to Attorney General Jeff Sessions who pledged loyalty to President Donald Trump as its new political editor, Politico reports.
Sarah Isgur, who worked as Sessions’ spokeswoman before the attorney general was forced out, will join the network to help direct its coverage of the Democratic primaries and Trump’s reelection bid.
Prior to working for the Trump administration, Isgur worked for Republicans Mitt Romney, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, and the Republican National Committee.
The Washington Post reported that Isgur previously slammed CNN as the “Clinton News Network” and has been critical of reporters on Twitter.
The Post previously reported that Trump resisted Isgur’s appointment to be Sessions’ spokesperson because she had criticized him on the campaign trail until she pledged loyalty to Trump in an Oval Office meeting.
CNN employees “demoralized” by Isgur hiring:
The Daily Beast reported that there were grumblings from CNN employees about the hiring after they were “left in the dark on the controversial decision.”
“It’s extremely demoralizing for everyone here,” a CNN editorial staffer told the outlet.
“People are generally confused,” another editorial employee said, adding that the hire of a longtime partisan operative to oversee a journalistic operation was “very bizarre.”
Isgur called out for lack of journalism experience:
Though Isgur has appeared as a partisan pundit on many networks, she has not spent one day working as a journalist.
“There weren’t any journalists available?” NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen asked The Daily Beast.
“This person is not a journalist,” wrote Media Matters’ Parker Molloy.
As an operative, Isgur never let facts get in the way. She defended Trump’s travel ban on eight Muslim-majority countries in 2017, writing, “Once again Dems & media sounding their outrage gong at every single thing this President does to try to clean up mess of the last 8yrs.”
