There were no winners Monday in the 35-minute showdown between CNN’s Chris Cuomo and White House adviser Kellyanne Conway.
Everything is bad, and everyone is awful.
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If you tuned in to CNN today hoping to hear a reasonable and forthright discussion on some of the bigger questions surrounding the Trump administration, you picked the wrong network.
It became obvious almost immediately during their conversation that both Cuomo and Conway were interested only in feeding red meat to their respective bases. Put more plainly, the interview was embarrassing for both parties. They didn’t even try to give the appearance of wanting to have an honest and truthful discussion on some of the White House’s more nagging problems.
Conservative columnist Stephen Miller probably said it best Monday: “The Cuomo/Conway interview is a perfect example of how masturbatory this is for both of them. Both sides revel in it.” He’s right.
Cuomo clearly wasn’t interested in clarity, and Conway was equally disinterested in clarifying. The entire interview was a regrettable exercise of partisan “gotchas” and tiresome sniping.
The interview is sure to please certain viewers, and maybe CNN got a little ratings boost. But that’s a bad trade for the further professional wrestling-ification of the news.
Great drama! Huge rivalries! Who will win? Tune in tonight!
The only thing that one can say in Conway’s defense is that political operators are expected to engage in eyeroll-inducing spin. It’s what they’re paid to do, even if it makes them look ridiculous and extremely insincere.
CNN, on the other hand, is supposed to be a professional news organization.
What’s Cuomo’s excuse?
