John Bolton is a much more than just a cable news pundit.
He spent nearly 30 years in the federal government, working for both the Justice and State Departments. At the former, he served as the U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. At the latter, he served ultimately as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
It comes as a bit of a surprise, then, to see Bolton casually written off as a cable news pundit, as CNN did this week on television and in an article titled, “President Trump hires a talking head – again.”
The report, which comes shortly after the White House announced this week that Bolton would replace H.R. McMaster as President Trump’s National Security Adviser, includes these opening lines, “Thursday’s announcement about Fox commentator turned National Security Adviser John Bolton is just the latest example of the TV-to-White House pipeline.”
“Quite simply, he’s hiring the people he enjoys watching on TV,” it adds.
It’s not until the ninth paragraph that the reader gets this bit of information: “Of course, Bolton is not ‘just’ a TV pundit. He is a lawyer with decades of experience in foreign policy circles, known for his hawkish views. He served as a United States Ambassador to the United Nations during the George W. Bush administration.”
The point CNN is trying to make here is clear:
Of all the various titles John Bolton has had, CNN goes with “Fox News Analyst.” pic.twitter.com/KAX0q30qto
— Matthew RJ Brodsky (@RJBrodsky) March 22, 2018
Yes, the president relies too much on television, and his idea of good governance appears to be informed almost entirely from cable news. Further, CNN’s characterization isn’t inaccurate. Bolton is indeed a cable news television personality. But CNN has a tricky tightrope to walk here, and they’re not doing it well.
The chief problem is that the story does reduce Bolton to “just” a talking head. It downplays that he is on television precisely because of his accomplishments elsewhere. Bolton has a title: Ambassador. He’s not one of these kid pundits who appear on Fox News from time to time to confirm the right’s laziest biases.
To make the overall argument that Trump has a cable news problem, the story mostly ignores that Bolton has an impressive resume and qualifications independent of his work on television, and that these qualities are well-known to Trump’s inner circle. To make “talking head” Bolton’s chief identity would be like referring to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a “struggling author.” It wouldn’t be inaccurate, but it would omit some crucial political context, obviously.
Bolton didn’t become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations because he was on Fox. He ended up on Fox because he was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. The CNN headline and the story’s main points are not wrong. Trump loves his television, and his hiring choices increasingly seem to be drawn from network greenrooms.
But give Bolton some credit. He’s on TV for a reason.
Full disclosure: This author is a paid contributor with CNN/HLN.
