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AT&T Execs Stuck in Middle of Trump-CNN Feud, With Time Warner Merger on the Line

Feb 9, 2017  •  Post A Comment

“Top execs at AT&T, in the midst of acquiring Time Warner, are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to curry favor with the White House at the same time CNN’s journalists are putting the president under the Kleig lights,” The New York Post reports, noting that relations between the Trump administration and Time Warner-owned CNN became even more strained this week amid talk that Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway was being banned from the channel.

“Then on Tuesday, ‘The Lead’ anchor Jake Tapper conducted a tough interview with Conway over claims the media underreported terror attacks,” the story reports. “Tapper said it was hard to take criticism from a White House that has ‘little regard for facts or truth,’ and ‘who calls us fake news for stories they don’t like.’”

The Post cites sources saying AT&T isn’t having much success building relationships in Washington.

“The Department of Justice will have to decide whether AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner passes an antitrust review,” the story reports. “Meanwhile, Breitbart News, co-founded by Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon, ran on Tuesday an item about Trump’s reservations about the deal.”

The report adds: “While AT&T boss Randall Stephenson has not tried to tone down CNN’s reporting, according to sources, the tension between the news channel and the White House concerns him.”

2 Comments

  1. FNN (the Fake News Network) is really making things “interesting” for AT&T.

  2. So, if I understand correctly, this deal may not be approved by the DOJ because the President doesn’t like CNN’s reporting about him and his administration or that CNN may need to be muzzled to make the deal happen. Please don’t tell me the answer is “yes!”

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