Another Partisan Hack Just Lost His Job at CNN

John Harwood says he’s looking forward to ‘figuring out what’s next’

Andrew Stiles • September 2, 2022 3:00 pm

CNN’s new leadership continues to purge the network’s ranks of partisan hacks. White House correspondent John Harwood on Friday became the third partisan hack sent packing in as many weeks. The obnoxious journalist said he’s looking forward to “figuring out what’s next,” suggesting this wasn’t a planned departure.

Harwood’s much-deserved ousting comes after the network cut ties with senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin and senior media correspondent Brian Stelter—two of the most shameless partisan hacks in the history of American journalism. Harwood is no slouch in that department, either.

Since joining CNN in 2020, Harwood has made a name for himself by defending “brilliant public servant” Anthony Fauci, suggesting concerns about soaring inflation were “largely a charade,” and loyally defending President Joe Biden against any and all forms of criticism.

Before that, the former NBC correspondent was best known for checking in with Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in 2015 for suggestions about what questions to ask Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush. Days later, Harwood emailed several Clinton aides to complain that his fellow journalists were “burning so much interview time with [the] person most likely to be next president on her emails.”

Harwood followed up months later to tell Podesta that former president Barack Obama should feel “vindication at this demonstration of his years-long point about the opposition party veering off the rails,” adding, “I certainly am feeling that way with respect to how I questioned [Donald] Trump at our debate.”

Like most journalists, Harwood became increasingly radicalized during the Trump administration, frequently ranting about how Republicans “would smack their moms in the face” to please the president and comparing the GOP to the “old Confederacy.” He rarely missed an opportunity to praise a Democrat for making a scene in public. For example, when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) wore a “Tax the Rich” dress to the Met gala in 2021, he praised her “talent” for being “able to articulate” her “strong belief system.”

CNN’s ratings have declined dramatically since Biden took office in 2021, and the network has been plagued by scandal since host Chris Cuomo was fired for colluding with his brother, disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo (D., N.Y.), to smear victims of sexual harassment. CNN president Jeff Zucker was forced out several months later for failing to disclose a romantic relationship with a senior executive. Several months after that, the network pulled the plug on its $300 million premier streaming service, CNN+, after just 23 days in operation. Sad!