Former CNN host-turned-independent journalist and podcaster Jim Acosta tore into CBS News's rightward shift and its newest MAGA-friendly anchor Tony Dokoupil Thursday, warning of "state-compromised media" in the U.S.
"I've been describing it this way, I think we have a system of state-compromised media in this country. We do not have a free press the way that we did a couple of years ago," Acosta said on Jennifer Welch's "I've Had It" podcast. "If we have major corporations that are in charge of our media outlets, that are under the thumb of the current administration, then you really don't have freedom of the press."
CBS News has faced scrutiny amid its rightward shift under parent company Paramount. While under the leadership of Paramount CEO and Trump ally David Ellison, CBS News has undergone major staffing changes, with conservative journalist Bari Weiss becoming the network's editor-in-chief and hiring Dokoupil as anchor.
The network has come under fire after Weiss pulled a "60 Minutes" episode about the notorious El Salvadoran prison where Trump sent more than 200 of Venezuelan migrants last year, and after Dokoupil fawned over Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"I mean, not only was Walter Cronkite spinning in his grave, I was hoping he would come back from the great beyond to choke the living shit out of him, and say, 'What the fuck are you doing?'" Acosta said of Dokoupil's admiration over Rubio.
This year, CBS News cut down its 38-page handbook of principles to five values, one of which states, "We love America. And we make no apologies for saying so."
Acosta bluntly reacted to CBS New's five values, telling Welch, "Get the fuck out of here! We all love America! That's why we're doing this."
“When I saw CBS doing that, I said, ‘What the fuck is going on with these people?’” Acosta told Welch. “Because we all love this country. That is beside the point. What we should be having in this country is a free press that can hold the goddamn president the United States accountable without everybody worried whether they’re going to lose their fucking job.”
Gesturing to himself and Welch, he continued,“And that is why things like what we’re doing right now is flourishing and thriving because the American people can sniff this out.”
“They can see the pandering and the nonsense,” he added.
The former CNN host slammed Dokoupil "both sides-ing" a report on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead.
“We saw it on goddamn television. It was a bunch of Trump thugs that he egged on and incited and sent to the goddamn capital. He’s the one who did it,” Acosta said. “There is no both sides of that fucking story. End of fucking story.”