HBO host Bill Maher criticized CNN host Kaitlan Collins on his show this week, highlighting what he sees as the network’s consistent left-wing bias.
Maher brought up these remarks on Friday night’s episode of “Real Time” while talking about an interview Collins had with Stephen Colbert on CBS. During that interview, both Collins and her network became the subject of laughter when Colbert jokingly referred to CNN as a straight news organization.
“You made press because you were on Stephen Colbert’s show, and he said something like, ‘You guys at CNN just report the news straight.’ And the crowd burst into laughter,” Maher said. “I’m a big rooter for CNN, but that tells you a lot, doesn’t it?”
Maher questioned Collins about her perspective on how her network is performing in a “terribly divided country” where each side “just hates the other side.”
In response, Collins pointed to her show as “evidence” that CNN offers a platform where viewers from both sides can tune in and feel engaged.
“We’ll have Elizabeth Warren on one night, we’ll have Ted Cruz on another night,” she said. “I think lawmakers from both parties should take questions, and you should push both of them.”
She stated that CNN was “a place of credibility,” highlighting that the network sent hundreds of staff members to cover the Democratic National Convention (DNC), where the coverage was largely favorable towards the event.
“I’m talking about the people on CNN. And I know what the conservative side of America thinks, and I don’t blame them. I watched Kamala’s speech last night. It ended at 8:09, I guess 11:09 in the east,” Maher responded.
Maher pointed out that CNN devoted 15 uninterrupted minutes to praising Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. It wasn’t until “lonely Scott” Jennings, one of the network’s few conservative commentators, spoke up and challenged the ongoing narrative.
Bill Maher asks CNN's Kaitlan Collins why CNN's reputation is so poor that Colbert's audience laughed at the idea of CNN being an impartial news source:
Bill Maher: "You were on Colbert's show, and he said 'You guys at CNN just report the news straight' and the crowd burst into… pic.twitter.com/2sE964CGvr— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) August 24, 2024
“I watched from 8:09 to 8:23, they were just gushing about how great a speech it was,” he said. “And I think she did fine. I didn’t think it was as good as they were making it out to be. But if I’m a conservative in America and I’m watching CNN, just for the straight middle of the road, that’s what I hear for 15 minutes, is it’s great. And then lonely Scott. It does look, I mean, and when you see the panel, it does look like tokenism. It’s kind of like the same as ‘The View,’ it’s like, it’s almost better to have nobody there, like MSNBC, than to have this.”
Collins argued that individuals such as Dana Bash, Jake Tapper, and Abby Phillip provide “analysis” and are fair voices on the network. In response, Maher remarked that they “come across” as if they were Democrat activists.
“They come across that way. In a moment like that, it was like five to one,” he said. “It always looks like five one.”
