Media

Fox News, CNN say they will not be hiring Stephen Bannon

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon will not be signed by Fox News or by CNN following his ouster from Breitbart News on Tuesday, according to the networks.

“Fox News will not be hiring Steve Bannon,” a network spokesperson confirmed to The Hill.

A CNN spokesman also confirmed to The Hill that they are not interested in hiring Bannon.

The decision by the networks comes after SiriusXM also said Tuesday that the former White House chief strategist will no longer host a radio show after it was announced he was stepping down.
  
“Breitbart News has decided to end its relationship with Stephen K. Bannon, therefore he will no longer host on SiriusXM since our programming agreement is with Breitbart News,” SiriusXM said in a statement.

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Bannon, 64, had rejoined Breitbart News’s SiriusXM radio show as host in December. He departed from the White House in August in what President Trump has since characterized as a firing.

Bannon announced he was leaving Breitbart News on Tuesday after making controversial remarks about Trump’s family to Michael Wolff, the author of the book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” which has dominated headlines since being released last week.

The populist firebrand became executive chairman of Breitbart News in 2012 following the sudden death of founder Andrew Breitbart, who died of a heart attack at age 43.

Bannon’s career has been in flux since the publication of Wolff’s book.

In the book, which immediately became a best-seller, Bannon was quoted as calling Donald Trump Jr. “treasonous” and “unpatriotic” for meeting with a Russian lawyer during his father’s presidential campaign.

Trump slammed Bannon in a statement by claiming that the former Goldman Sachs investment banker had “lost his mind” after the comments on Trump Jr. first came to light.

In Wolff’s book, Bannon said, “They’re [the special counsel’s team] going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV.”

Bannon has since apologized for the comments, but the White House has rejected the overture.

“When you go after somebody’s family in the [manner] which he did, two of the president’s children are serving this nation, sacrificing in their service, it is repugnant, it is grotesque and I challenge anybody to go and talk about somebody’s family and see if that person doesn’t come back and comes back hard,” said White House spokesman Hogan Gidley.

In August, following Sean Spicer’s departure from the White House, all three cable news networks indicated they would not hire the former press secretary.

The Hill has also reached out to MSNBC for comment on the possibility of opening talks with Bannon.

– Updated at 11:30 a.m.