Jonah Goldberg, a conservative pundit who recently quit Fox News over its pro-Trump coverage, has joined CNN after denying any plans to do so.
SO WHAT
Are anti-Trump conservatives really as “principled” as they claim?
WHAT HAPPENED
Goldberg, a former National Review editor and founder of The Dispatch, will begin appearing on CNN programs in the lead-up to the 2022 midterm elections, the network confirmed Monday.
In November, Goldberg and his Dispatch co-founder, Stephen Hayes, announced they were resigning as longtime Fox News contributors because the network had become too beholden to former President Donald Trump.
- Golderg and Hayes cited Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s Jan. 6 documentary, “Patriot Purge,” as a catalyst for their departures.
- Last month, NBC News announced Hayes would be joining the network as a contributor.
THE REACTION
After questioning Goldberg and Hayes’ high-minded rationales for quitting Fox News at the time, many of their fellow conservatives commentators claimed vindication Monday on Twitter.
Some resurfaced a November email in which the two men assured assured readers of The Dispatch they were “not looking to occupy the permanent anti-Fox seats at CNN or MSNBC,”saying “cable news in general is a big part of the problem.”
Others pointed to Goldberg’s 2017 tweet illustrating his horror at CNN’s coverage.
While Goldberg has long rejected comparisons to anti-Trump conservatives who have gone full Democrat, that distinction just became harder to defend.