At CNSNews.com, the only original coverage of the departure of Bill O’Reilly from Fox News over mounting claims of sexual harassment had little to do with that — it was about his legacy.
An April 20 article by Susan Jones is headlined “CNN Anchor: ‘Many Think That If There Was No Bill O’Reilly, There Would Be No President Donald Trump’,” and leads by insisting that some of the harassment claims against O’Reilly were “very old and legally settled,” followed by a statement from O’Reilly that ‘It is tremendously disheartening we part ways due to unfounded claims. That is the reality many of us in the public eye must live with today.”
The rest of the article touts O’Reilly’s political legacy, particularly regarding Donald Trump. Jones doesn’t mention that Trump has been accused of sexual harassment and even worse behavior toward women.
Jones sneered that CNN’s Brian Stelter “covered the O’Reilly controversy diligently” — unlike her and the rest of CNN, but Jones didn’t mention that. She concluded her article quoting O’Reilly’s lawyer complaining about “character assassination” and and ranting about alleged “evidence that the smear campaign is being orchestrated by far-left organizations bent on destroying O’Reilly for political and financial reasons.”
Of course, Jones knows a thing or two about engaging in character assassination for political and financial reasons.