GOP Honcho Threatens CNN, NBC If They Air Hillary Clinton Shows
The head of the Republican Party, Reince Priebus, and yes that’s one weird name, threatened Monday to cut out CNN and NBC from the GOP presidential primary debates if the networks do not shelve their plans to air lengthy features on Hillary Clinton — who is widely expected to be a Democratic candidate in the 2016 election.
Republican National Committee Chairman Priebus accused both networks of trying to put “a thumb on the scales” of the 2016 race with programming he claimed would be tantamount to an “in-kind donation” to the Clinton campaign.
Last month, CNN Films announced it was producing a documentary on Clinton to premiere next year, first in theaters and then on CNN.
NBC also announced a four-hour “Hillary” miniseries starring Diane Lane, on the life of the former secretary of state and first lady.
Priebus’ statement on Monday marked the most aggressive challenge yet to those plans.
In a written statement, Priebus said if the networks don’t meet his demands, he will seek a “binding vote” at the upcoming Aug. 14 RNC meeting declaring that the party “will neither partner with these networks in 2016 primary debates nor sanction primary debates they sponsor.”
“It’s appalling to know executives at major networks like NBC and CNN who have donated to Democrats and Hillary Clinton have taken it upon themselves to be Hillary Clinton’s campaign operatives,” he said.
In letters to the heads of both networks, Priebus said the Clinton specials would be unfair not only to Republicans, but to Democratic candidates who might also compete in the primary — including Vice President Biden and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.
“Secretary Clinton has been in the public eye for well over two decades, so you certainly cannot claim that a series about her political career is any sort of public service or informational docudrama on an unknown individual,” Priebus wrote. “Quite the opposite is true: it would be most accurately described as an in-kind donation.
“Out of a sense of fairness and decency and in the interest of the political process and your company’s reputation, I call on you to cancel this political ad masquerading as an unbiased production.”
CNN defended its planned documentary in a written statement released Monday afternoon.
“This documentary will be a non-fiction look at the life of a former First Lady and Secretary of State. Instead of making premature decisions about a project that is in the very early stages of development and months from completion, we would encourage the members of the Republican National Committee to reserve judgment until they know more,” the statement said. “Should they decide not to participate in debates on CNN, we would find it curious, as limiting their debate participation seems to be the ultimate disservice to voters.”
The RNC letters were addressed to NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt and CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker.
After facing off with both CNN and MSNBC this jerk look like a whiny kid. I don’t think he is going to get anywhere with his threats except to get the GOP base fired up about the liberal media. Point in fact is that he may or may not be the Chairman of the Republican Party by the time the election gets here.
Oh, now come on. Ronald Reagan didn’t get much publicity from his movies when he was thinking about running for governor or president did he? Nah, not really. Although I do remember thinking that it would be silly to vote for some one who played a straight man for a monkey in “Bedtime for Bonzo.” The GOP should consider whether or not anyone is going to care that much about their primaries beyond their deluded base. Right now the Republican Party is so splintered that it is doubtful that they can get a candidate through the primaries that hasn’t been bled to death.
Hey! What’s wrong with ‘Bedtime For Bonzo’? 😉
It’s probably a bit naïve as American politics are something of a mystery to me – but then again, British politics are something of a mystery to me.
If Hilary can stand tall after her President husband took a ‘blow job’ from some other woman and look the world in the face and say “I’ll be better than him or them” then give her a go eh America?
I will rephrase that.
Give her a chance?
Men have fucked it up every time eventually.
Britain tried a woman at the top and, despite a couple of major fuck ups she actually did better than most of the men preceeding her and following her.
GO HILLARY!
Good luck babe x (and I know ‘babe’ isn’t necessarily respectful in the USA but, in this case, IT IS!)
By giving Hillary even more publicity and threatening to keep the networks from televising the Republican debates, aren’t they shooting themselves in the foot?
Oh wait, that’s a Republican national sport.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t it a lawsuit over an anti-Hillary movie that led to the Citizens United decision? Looks like sauce for the goose ain’t sauce for the Priebus.
Wikipedia gives his birth name as Reinhold Reince Priebus and his parents’ names as Roula and Dimitra. I wonder how many times he got beat up as a kid because of that name. Maybe he’s taking it out on us now.
No doubt he was a target in school, and now we have to suffer his nonsense.
They’re scared shitless these Goppers, and this idiot is making it clear! Hillary 2016….