President Trump’s son-in-law criticized CNN’s coverage during a recent meeting with an executive from its parent company, according to a new report.
Jared Kushner voiced concern over the network’s coverage to Time Warner Inc.’s Gary Ginsberg, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing a White House official and others familiar with the discussion.
Ginsberg is Time Warner’s executive vice president of corporate marketing and communications.
{mosads}Kushner has reportedly met Ginsberg at the White House in recent weeks, the Journal said, and chided what he sees as CNN’s unfair coverage of the Trump administration.
The president’s senior adviser purportedly took issue with specific CNN commentators who have been especially critical of Trump, sources told the Journal.
Kushner allegedly mentioned Van Jones, a Democrat who served in former President Obama’s administration, and Ana Navarro, a GOP strategist who has repeatedly slammed Trump.
“It’s no secret that the President and his team have been critical of CNN’s dishonest coverage of the President both during the campaign and since his inauguration, and it’s obvious their ratings have suffered as a result,” the White House official told the Journal.
“Fox [News] on the other hand provides mostly fair, and more complete coverage of the Administration and their ratings have never been better.”
A CNN spokeswoman disputed the official’s claims Thursday, adding the “White House has their facts wrong.”
“CNN’s ratings are up 50 percent. Our journalism has never been stronger as we continue to hold this administration’s feet to the fire. Those are the facts,” the spokeswoman said.
CNN’s total day ratings are up 51 percent so far this year, according to Nielsen, to 264,000 viewers among adults ages 25 to 54.
Fox’s are up 55 percent, to 381,000 viewers across the same demographic since 2017 started.
Trump has repeatedly feuded with CNN, accusing the network of bias against him and even singling out individual journalists there.
The president earlier Thursday bashed the network’s ratings, claiming they “aren’t as good” as they used to be due to CNN’s “hatred” and “tone.”
Trump was harsh toward the media generally during Thursday’s event, saying its overall dishonesty is “out of control.”