Once upon a time, CNN lived up to its tagline as “the most trusted name in news” thanks to relatively objective and unbiased reporting. That hasn’t been the case for quite some time and it seems like even the most left-leaning audiences are aware.
Case in point: CNN host Kaitlan Collins was on Stephen Colbert’s late night show earlier this week when she was taken aback by the crowd’s reaction to a comment about her network’s credibility.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by the hosts of The Fifth Column – Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch – to discuss the surprising moment and what it says about the state of the media.
Colbert and Collins Stunned
Collins was on The Late Show with Colbert on Monday to talk politics and the state of the 2024 race when things took an unexpected turn. “She goes over to get the lovely treatment from Stephen Colbert on how amazing she is and how amazing CNN is,” Megyn said. “And the left-wing New York City audience brought some truth to the matter.”
Here’s how the exchange went:
COLLINS: Trump has kind of been thrown on his heels by this, and he’s not really sure how to go after Vice President Harris. He knew his attack lines on President Biden. He really has struggled with how, to how to go after someone who’s 20 years younger than him, who is a different gender, a different race. It’s kind of been this moment where he has not been able to coalesce around a single attack line.
COLBERT: I know you guys are objective over there, that you just report the news as it is.
[Audience laughs]
COLBERT: No, CNN makes, I know if it’s–
COLLINS: Is that supposed to be a laugh line?
COLBERT: It wasn’t supposed to be, but I guess it is.
Colbert’s show tapes in the heart of midtown Manhattan in front of an audience that is no doubt left-of-center. And yet, those in attendance seemingly found a sincere remark from the late night host to be funnier than some of the scripted gag lines. “How humiliating,” Megyn said. “And good for that audience, they knew that was a farce.”
No Laughing Matter
A 2023 Gallup poll found that only 7 percent of adults in the United States have a “great deal” of trust in the media and 38 percent have none at all, which essentially matches the survey’s all-time low for media trust set in 2016.
While Democrats tend to trust the press far more than Republicans, Moynihan said most Americans are still in on the joke. “I think that the audience, even in New York City, knows that that’s ridiculous,” he said. “I mean, it is.”
If Collins and Colbert are wondering why no one believes CNN is on the straight and narrow, Megyn offered this brief history of the cable channels. “Look who were the faces of CNN over the Trump era,” she said. “Jeff Zucker was running it. We all know about him. He ruined CNN. Chris Cuomo. Okay, that didn’t end well. He is obviously a Democrat partisan masquerading as a journalist, just like [George] Stephanopoulos. And Don Lemon. He ultimately got forced out because he made one too many stupid, sexist comments.”
In Moynihan’s view, the state of late night today is indicative of the problem with the media at large. “Stephen Colbert is a great example of this,” he explained. “If you go back and look at the late night shows of the [Jay] Leno, Conan O’Brien, [David] Letterman era, you would have occasional political jokes. They never turned into cheerleading for one political candidate or one side, which is what has made it so boring.”
For a reminder of just how far late night comedy has fallen, Moynihan pointed to the cringe-inducing dancing syringe sequence Colbert rolled out during COVID. “Everyone remembers the unbelievably embarrassing vaccine dance,” he recalled. “It’s like North Korean television, but less funny.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with The Fifth Column by tuning in to episode 861 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.