White House Communications Director Steven Cheung lashed out at CNN anchor Erin Burnett on Tuesday over her damning description of the administration’s new Trump TV.
Burnett compared the White House’s newly launched 24/7 video stream to state television in authoritarian North Korea. The controversial YouTube channel debuted just days after President Donald Trump barred CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House grounds. That prompted the major TV networks to suspend their participation in the White House TV pool.
Burnett drew Cheung’s ire with a monologue on her “OutFront” show, telling viewers: “You’re not being punked. This is real. It’s called Trump TV. It’s 24 hours of Trump re-airing what the White House calls, ‘major remarks and must-see highlights.’”
The channel has attracted low viewer numbers, and Burnett suggested that may have something to do with “the actual content Trump TV has so far aired,” which is centered on previous Trump addresses.
“It’s a weird sort of form of state TV,” she continued. “I mean, right now, with everything going on, people want to rewatch his inauguration?”
“It’s kind of reminiscent of what you would find in North Korea,” she added. “That’s called KCTV and it’s dedicated, every airing, to pretty much every public appearance by their leader, whether it’s an amusement park or a military facility, and they repeatedly air Kim Jong un’s remarks again and again. It sounds familiar.”