President Donald Trump responded to the death of CNN founder Ted Turner on Wednesday by calling him “one of the greats in Broadcast History.”
Turner, 87, died after a battle with Lewy Body Dementia, a diagnosis he disclosed publicly in 2018. The media tycoon launched CNN in 1980 as the first 24-hour cable news channel.
Recommended Stories
“Ted Turner, one of the Greats of All Time, just died,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. “He founded CNN, sold it, and was personally devastated by the Deal because the new ownership took CNN, his ‘baby,’ and destroyed it. It became woke, and everything that he is not all about.”
Through CNN, Turner is widely credited with pioneering 24/7 cable news. His major rivals then adopted the format, which helped to establish today’s news-saturated media environment.
Paramount Skydance is set to acquire Warner Brothers, which includes CNN, after Netflix declined to increase its offer.
MEDIA PIONEER TED TURNER DEAD AT 87
David Ellison, CEO of Skydance Media and owner of CBS News, is an ally of Trump. While the merger agreement has been in place, it now faces regulatory review.
“Maybe the new buyers, wonderful people, will be able to bring it back to its former credibility and glory,” Trump said of the agreement in the same Truth Social post. “Regardless, however, one of the Greats of Broadcast History, and a friend of mine. Whenever I needed him, he was there, always willing to fight for a good cause!”
