- Journalist John Harwood announced that he is CNN’s newest White House correspondent Tuesday morning.
- The former CNBC reporter has a history of bashing Republicans and President Donald Trump.
- He was also implicated in a Wikileaks in 2016. The journalist asked former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta for advice regarding an upcoming interview with then-Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush.
Journalist John Harwood began as CNN’s newest White House correspondent Tuesday morning, despite his history of bias and reporting fake news.
Harwood has spent years bashing Republicans, President Donald Trump and was even implicated in a Wikileaks leak back in 2016. He was previously the editor-at-large for CNBC.
Wikileaks released an email from September 21, 2015 where Harwood asked former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta for advice regarding an upcoming interview with then-Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush.
“What should I ask Jeb…” the email’s subject line read. Bush sat down with Harwood for an interview just days later. The journalist also praised Hillary Clinton and Podesta while referring to Obama as “the black guy” in other leaked emails.
Brian Fallon, Hillary Clinton’s national press secretary during her 2016 presidential campaign, praised Harwood on Tuesday morning following the announcement.
John is someone who long ago achieved elite journalist status in Washington – he was a mainstay on Meet the Press back during the Russert era – but who has been always willing to reassess what he thinks he knows. He brings humility and honesty to the jobhttps://t.co/I2G15O4Z2i
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) January 21, 2020
The newest CNN employee was also part of the reason the Republican National Committee suspended its partnership with NBC News during the 2016 election, Fox News reported.
Examples of Harwood’s bias don’t stop there. In 2017, Harwood had to amend a claim he made on Twitter after falsely reporting that the Justice Department “had no input” on Trump’s immigration executive order.
About an hour later, the White House correspondent clarified his tweet, writing this time that the “proposed immigration order WAS reviewed by Department lawyers before it was issued.”
new info from @PeteWilliamsNBC: another DOJ official says proposed immigration order WAS reviewed by Department lawyers before it was issued
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) January 28, 2017
CNN’s newest employee has plenty of other examples where he has spread misinformation in an attempt to attack the president. (RELATED: John Harwood Frets About Trump’s ‘State Of Mind’)
After Trump referred to the violent gang MS-13 as “animals” in May of 2018, Harwood jumped to the gang members’ defense, calling Trump out for not referring to them as “human beings.” Harwood received backlash on Twitter, with many pointing out that Trump’s comment was taken out of context. Others bashed Harwood for his apparent attempt to own the president by defending killers.
however repugnant their actions, MS-13 gang members are human beings IMHO
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) May 17, 2018
horrific crimes committed by human beings
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) May 17, 2018
Just a month later, Harwood was fact-checked by CNN’s Laura Jarrett and Jake Tapper after trying to fact-check Trump over the contents of Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report in 2018.
Trump attacked former FBI agent Peter Strzok on Twitter after it was revealed that he wrote a text about stopping Trump from becoming president. Harwood then tried to claim that the “report found no evidence that Strzok’s disdain for Trump or any other improper consideration affected conduct of Clinton email investigation.”
Justice IG report found no evidence that Strzok’s disdain for Trump or any other improper consideration affected conduct of Clinton email investigation https://t.co/YihfdTZmew
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) June 15, 2018
Jarrett and Tapper quickly pointed out that Harwood’s claim was not entirely truthful. Jarrett noted that the IG did not have confidence that the situation was “free from bias.” Tapper agreed, adding that “Anyone reporting that the IG report clears the FBI of any accusations of political bias are ignoring the post-July 2016 section where the [Anthony] Weiner laptop emerges.”
Laura is 100% correct. Anyone reporting that the IG report clears the FBI of any accusations of political bias are ignoring the post-July 2016 section where the Weiner laptop emerges. https://t.co/eBj7tEcc7S
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 15, 2018
Harwood’s false claims against Trump continued in 2019. He tried to attack Stephen Moore, Trump’s then-choice for the Federal Reserve Board in April, by mischaracterizing comments where Moore said he’s “not even a big believer in democracy.”
The CNN journalist tried to claim that Moore is anti-democracy, basing it off of a small portion of one of Moore’s past comments. Free Beacon reporter Alex Griswald was quick to call Harwood out for the fake news.
This quote makes up the entire basis of Harwood’s claim that Moore is anti-democracy https://t.co/t5i2WzMJQn pic.twitter.com/lD137xtxQM
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) April 22, 2019
“GOP likes ‘capitalism against socialism;’ as a 2020 bumper sticker but Trump’s Fed pick Stephen Moore has written one Democrats like better: ‘capitalism against democracy,'” Harwood tweeted.
Harwood also went after the Republican Party in December of 2019. The White House correspondent wrote that it’s “hard for reporters to say plainly that the Republican Party, at this point in our history, is fundamentally broken.” He added that “it is” and faced major backlash for his biased commentary.
good description of the challenge for journalism
hard for reporters to say plainly that the Republican Party, at this point in our history, is fundamentally broken
but it is https://t.co/HXHn3cmJ4N
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) December 22, 2019
“By hiring him as a WH correspondent of all things, CNN is giving up any pretense of objectivity. They’re MSNBC now and should just own that,” attorney and author James Hasson tweeted following Tuesday’s news.
