Ex-CNN host rips network: They give racists a platform as a ‘ratings ploy’

Former CNN host Soledad O’Brien on Sunday tore into the network on Twitter, accusing the cable news network of offering a platform to racists and white supremacists to boost ratings.

Responding to a tweet from Oliver Willis, a writer for the progressive website ShareBlue Media, that called out the network for allowing “abhorrent behavior” under the guise of just “hearing them out,” O’Brien said CNN gave “racists/white supremacists” a platform as a “ratings ploy.”

“This exactly—they give a platform—and their credibility—to racists/white supremacists/ all in the name of ‘hearing them out’ (which is a ratings ploy btw),” O’Brien wrote, retweeting comments from Oliver Willis, a senior writer at ShareBlue Media.

This exactly—they give a platform—and their credibility—to racists/white supremacists/ all in the name of ‘hearing them out’ (which is a ratings ploy btw) https://t.co/4erIPhqSPL

— Soledad O’Brien (@soledadobrien) November 26, 2018

Willis wrote a series of tweets targeting the network for speaking out against certain behaviors and then having pundits on to defend those actions.

{mosads}”My major problem with how cnn operates is their anchors/hosts want to have their cake and eat it too,” Willis wrote in one tweet. “They want credit for calling out abhorrent behavior but when they enable the same behavior they insist theyre just ‘hearing them out.'”

O’Brien left CNN in 2013 after 10 years with the network.

The Hill has reached out to CNN for comment.