This week, CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan got a sharp reality check during an exchange with War Room co-host and White House correspondent Natalie Winters, one of the newest—and most talked-about—members of the White House press corps.
As previously reported, the Trump White House has drawn criticism from legacy media outlets for welcoming voices from conservative platformsinto White House briefings. Earlier in the week, O’Sullivan interviewed several of these newly credentialed reporters, including Winters. But operating from within the CNN echo chamber, he appeared to question Winters’ legitimacy as a journalist, despite all of the false narratives and left-slanted reporting his little-watched network has engaged in for years, especially in the age of President Donald Trump.
“To the people, and I’m sure you see this online every single day, who say you don’t deserve to be here because you are not a real journalist, what’s your response to them?” O’Sullivan asked, without actually quoting anyone from “online” who actually said such a thing. Winters’s response to his foolish question was truly remarkable. She expertly criticized the legacy media’s failures over the past four years and mocked them for panicking about the rise of new media.
“Well, I’m pretty sure the group of people in there spent four years covering for someone who was essentially dead, and that’s being charitable,” Winters said, a direct reference to CNN’s and the ‘mainstream media’ cover-up of former President Joe Biden’s decimated mental condition. “So to all those people who are apoplectic over new media voices, you guys failed, and that’s why we’re here!” It’s worth noting that no one seems to question Donie O’Sullivan’s status as a journalist, despite the years of misinformation his network has pushed—especially when it comes to coverage of President Trump. Winters’ response to his dismissive question was exactly the kind of pushback many Americans have been waiting for.
