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Licht’s Teacher’s Pet Syndrome

After Stelter’s ouster and the Harwood sunset, many in CNN wonder if Brianna Keilar is modulating her tone to satisfy the boss.

Brianna Keilar
CNN anchor Brianna Keilar is at the center of the organization's latest internal drama. Photo: Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images
Dylan Byers
September 8, 2022

In mid-August, one week after F.B.I. officials executed the search of Mar-a-Lago that recovered more than 300 classified documents, CNN’s respected and forceful anchor Brianna Keilar brought on Rep. Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, to articulate the G.O.P. response. The interview, which took place on the network’s State of the Union program, showcased Keilar’s prodigious prosecutorial talents and the authoritative, occasionally combative, take-no-bullshit approach to cross-examination that she had honed in the latter years of the Trump–Zucker era.