A former CNN spree said that the continued coverage of the Russian collusion network during President Trump’s first term helped accelerate his “death spiral” that cost the exit “40% of the country”.
Dave Briggs, a former co-leader of CNN’s “Early Beginning” from 2017 to 2019, said in a Podcast that the network alienated most of the Middle America with its with no stopping in the investigation if the Russians helped Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
He said he clashed with his then bosses on network strategy.
“Everyday I went inside and arguing with the powers related to the obsession of Russia’s investigation when no one who knows from the East coast gave a curse on how that investigation ended,” told the former CNN cholegs of Alisyn Camerota and guests Dylan Beyers in “Sanity with Alisyn & dave.
“And to me, this is when they lost 30, 40% of the country, and I think the type of ratings supported it.”
Briggs added that “it was the obsession” that turned off viewers.
“When I would talk to my friends all over the country and I don’t want to say on the east coast, outside this bubble in which we all exist – they would always tell me,” I just want to know what the other hell is happening in the world, “Briggs said.
“That’s what they would tell me every day, and that is what removed them from CNN.”
A CNN source told the post: “It is disappointing to see people talk so naive to the media and where they have worked, all in an effort to benefit.”
In 2017, special adviser Robert Mueller launched an investigation that reviewed Russian intervention in the 2016 US elections, links between the Trump and Russia campaign and the possible obstruction of justice by Trump.
He concluded that Russia intervened in the elections in a “comprehensive and systematic fashion” to help Trump, but found enough evidence to accuse the campaign with criminal plot.
At the time, CNN was led by Jeff Zucker, who overseen a boom of dramatic evaluations during Trump’s first term, in 2017 marking his most watched year and the eyes remained strong during the 2020 elections.
However, at the beginning of 2021, estimates dropped significantly after Trump left the office while the premium view fell by 36% within weeks.
A year later, Zucker resigned as President of CNN after failing to disclose a romantic relationship with CNN Allison Gollust’s executive, violating the company’s policy.
The ratings fall worsen after Trump’s 2024 re -election.
By the end of 2024, the CNN Prime Minister’s audience fell to under 420,000 viewers, the lowest to nearly 30 years.
Since May 2025, the network was on average only 405,000 viewers in priming, with only 74,000 in the main demographic 25-54.
CNN is undergoing high restructuring as it faces historical reductions in ratings, falling income and a close change in ownership.
At the beginning of 2025, the network ceased 6% of its labor force and is now preparing deeper measures to reduce costs, including lower wages and stronger spending policies.
CEO Mark Thompson is shifting concentration to a $ 70 million investment in digital, aiming at $ 1 billion by 2030.
Meanwhile, staff anxiety has intensified in front of CNN’s Spin-off by Warner Bros. Discovery in a new unit called Global Networks, guided by the Gunnar Wiedenfels cost.
With the viewing of cables that decreases throughout the industry, the future of CNN remains unsafe as it tries to recreate itself for the broadcasting age.
The post has requested comment from CNN and Zucker.
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