CNN Is Set for Trump-Friendly New Owners: How Jake Tapper & Tony Dokoupil Reacted

CNN’s Jake Tapper and CBS News’ Tony Dokoupil both reported the news on Thursday night (February 26) that Warner Bros. Discovery had accepted Paramount Skydance’s latest bid for the company’s assets. The deal means that CNN is headed towards getting  Trump-friendly owners.

Earlier that day, WBD said that Paramount’s latest bid, up from $30 to $31 per share, was better than Netflix’s previous offer. Netflix later announced it would not match the offer and would instead withdraw from the bidding, essentially giving the win to Paramount.

This is significant for several reasons, one of which is that, unlike Netflix’s bid, Paramount’s is for all WBD assets. Netflix was only looking to acquire the film studio and HBO streaming services, whereas Paramount’s offer also includes the WBD linear networks, including TNT, TBS, and, perhaps most significantly, CNN.

“Moments ago, Netflix said it is declining to raise its offer for the purchase of Warner Bros studios and HBO,” Tapper said on Thursday’s edition of The Lead. He went on to explain how Paramount’s offer includes “the whole enchilada, including us here at CNN.”

“Paramount has submitted a superior offer, according to Warner Bros. Discovery‘s board. As I‘ve noted, Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of CNN,” he added.

Paramount is run by David Ellison, the son of Oracle’s billionaire co-founder and close Trump ally, Larry Ellison. Last December, the Wall Street Journal reported that David “offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he’d make sweeping changes to CNN.”

Trump himself has said publicly, “It’s imperative that CNN be sold,” and referred to the network’s current leaders as a “disgrace.”

Critics fear that Paramount’s ties to Trump will lead to significant changes in CNN’s reporting, transforming it into a more MAGA-friendly network.

CBS News, which is also owned by Paramount, has faced similar criticism in recent months. After the merger with Skydance last year, David hired The Free Press co-founder Bari Weiss as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News. Weiss has been putting her stamp on the network, including firing, hiring, promoting, and killing reports.

One of Weiss’ most significant moves so far was promoting former CBS Mornings co-host Dokoupil to lead CBS Evening News. Since Dokoupil took over the evening broadcast in January, viewers have criticized him for trying to appease the Trump administration.

On Thursday’s episode of CBS Evening News, Dokoupil announced the latest WBD drama, saying, “Netflix says it will not raise its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery to match a rival bid by Paramount Skydance, which, of course, is the parent company of CBS News.”

“Netflix called the deal ‘no longer financially attractive,’ after the Warner Bros. board said the Paramount offer was better,” he continued.

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Fans reacted to the news, with one YouTube commenter writing, “Well CNN it was nice knowing you. Adios.”

“Get ready for the bloodiest mass layoffs Hollywood has ever witnessed,” said another.

“The next few episodes of Last Week Tonight are going to be interesting…,” another added, referring to comedian John Oliver’s late-night show, which airs on HBO.

Another added, “One step closer to state-owned media.”

“I see the end of CNN after this, sadly. It will be turned into another Fox News,” said one commenter.

“No good for CNN. Who needs two CBS News?” another added.