Perfect example of why CNN should no longer be considered a serious news operation-Kaitlan Collins’ interviewing of Abdul El-Sayed
I have always been fascinated by political interviews as a peek into the excellence or lack of it into major media’s ability to elucidate political reality.
In fact, I taught Media Criticism for almost exactly 20 years at Towson University. And I discussed in almost every class whether and how media sources analyzed trends in opposing political opinions.
Days ago, Kaitlan Collins of CNN managed to get the first extensive interview with Abdul El-Sayed, who won the Michigan Democratic senatorial primary by the surprisingly close margin of 1 percentage point. He was predicted by polls to win going away.
Collins had her work cut out for her: this result was a radical departure from American election rhetoric and politics, with a candidate who offered opinions offensive to most Americans-consistent with the new uprising in primary victories of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Had Ms. Collins been my student, I would have given her a Gentleman’s C- for that interview.
It wasn’t that she didn’t bring up relevant topics, although she didn’t bring up those that reflected most poorly on El-Sayed. But when he avoided them, there was no pursuit — none.
She did show a video of Sen. John Fetterman’s criticism of El-Sayed and mentioned his chumminess with his blatantly and openly anti-Semitic and anti-American friend, Hasan Piker-infamous for his saying that America deserved 9/11. But she didn’t press El-Sayed in the slightest when he refused to discuss or defend his appearing along side his far-far-left buddy.
El-Sayed: No comment; he did say that Fetterman, like Mike Rogers and Donald Trump, is corrupt. And El-Sayed said he didn’t want to focus on Piker and his statements of exactly why America deserved 9/11 and his consistently anti-Israel and anti-Jewish remarks.
I wouldn’t either if I were El-Sayed.
There were literally zero tough follow-ups from the incongruously pleasant Ms. Collins, no pressure on El-Sayed to mention exactly how Trump is awful or how Israel is promoting genocide. In fact, there was no pushback from Collins on anything.
Moreover, there was no interviewer’s incredulity on how he is going to win Michigan’s senatorial race, given his underperforming in the primary and winning by a hair…never, not a hint.
At least Collins did not say: “You know; you’re a breath of fresh air.”
I was pleasantly surprised by that.
CNN has become an embarrassment.
I remember the days when that network was not such a pushover.
Richard E. Vatz https://wp.towson.edu/vatz/ is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of political rhetoric at Towson University and author of The Only Authentic of Persuasion: the Agenda-Spin Model (Bookwrights House, 2024) and over 200 other works, essays, lectures, and op-eds. He is the benefactor of the Richard E. Vatz Best Debater Award at Towson. The Van Bokkelen Auditorium at Towson University has been named after him.