A familiar talk show analyst known for her fiery conservative persona says her recently debuted news analysis show is a place to talk about more than just President Trump.
“We’re not avoiding Trump or politics, but we’re including a lot of other lifestyle stories that people find just as interesting and compelling,” S.E. Cupp told The Hill.
Cupp said her new HLN program, “Unfiltered,” which debuted on Aug. 21, provides “an alternative space for talking about news and political issues in ways that people who might be less engaged in the deep dives of Washington politics might find more appealing.”
“This show is much more practical and instead of talking Capitol Hill politics, it’s talking politics of your daily life,” the 38-year-old host said in a phone interview.
{mosads}HLN is a sister network to CNN and has recently awarded several former CNN personalities with their own programs.
Former “New Day” news-reader Michaela Pereira, former “Legal View” host Ashleigh Banfield and former anchor Carol Costello have all migrated to HLN since originally being featured on CNN, with Costello and Cupp the most recent hosts to make the horizontal move in August.
Cupp burst onto the cable news scene at Fox News, where she was a frequent guest on the eclectic 3 a.m. ET panel show “Red Eye,” hosted by Greg Gutfeld.
Cupp also periodically filled in for Andy Levy as the show’s candid fact-checker.
The 51-year-old Levy’s run at Fox News ended not long after “Red Eye” was abruptly canceled by the network after a 10-year run in April. The humorist reunited with Cupp by signing on as a producer and panelist on “Unfiltered” over the summer.
While “Unfiltered” usually leads with the daily narrative that is the Trump presidency, Cupp believes there are plenty of other topics and stories that cable news shows may be missing.
“For me, I’m a mom of a young kid, and when I’m watching the news or reading online, some parenting story that makes my life easier could be just as important as anything I read on politics,” she explained.
Cupp also previously co-hosted the short-lived reboot of “Crossfire” on CNN that debuted in September 2013. Fellow hosts included former Obama “Green Czar” Van Jones, former Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter and former GOP Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (Ga.), who has since jumped to Fox News.
The venerable debate show was often pre-empted due to CNN’s all-in approach to covering the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, however, and could never gain its footing in building an audience. It was canceled after just a year.
Prior to CNN, Cupp was part of another four-host roundtable program, “The Cycle,” on MSNBC.
The professed atheist has also authored two books, including “Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity” in 2010. She’s also been writing regular columns for The New York Daily News since 2009.
While Cupp says she understands the importance of ratings and marketing a program on a network that has struggled to capture a sizable audiences in recent years, she believes the ultimate reward is sharing perspectives that can occasionally lead to actual agreement or a change of heart. She noted that hearing each other out is a rarity in the increasingly combative world of cable news panels.
“For me, it’s actually about the connections, and it feels like you’re solving problems when you’re sitting across from someone like Van [Jones], who really does want to see your point of view,” Cupp explained.
“And you’re sharing ideas and viewpoints, and you come to a moment where he says, ‘You know, I think you’re right about that,’ or I say, ‘That makes sense to me, I wish someone else explained it like that,’ ” she continued. “That feels like progress. We’re not just doing this for our health.”
“Unfiltered” airs weekday nights on HLN at 7 p.m. ET.