CNN 'Shake-Up' Label on Trump Changes Buttressed

In an interview this week, Trump attorney Michael Cohen repeatedly suggested to CNN anchor Brianna Keilar that the network was unfairly characterizing changes in Donald Trump's presidential campaign team as a shake-up.

There were awkward silences as Keilar's questions about the "shake-up" were met with disdain and a "who says" debating style that left Keilar at a loss for words.

Numerous news outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News and Fox News—which Trump repeatedly disses in tweets—described the exit of some top staffers and the addition of others as a shake-up for a candidate trailing in the vast majority of national polls.

CNN was obviously feeling redeemed on Friday after Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort exited, putting a "shake-up" exclamation mark on the busy week.

Trump had earlier in the week named Stephen Bannon of Breitbart News as his new top strategist, signaling that he was doubling down on his outsider image.

Former Fox News chief Roger Ailes was also said to be counseling the campaign.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.