ANDERSON COOPER (HOST): It's a presidency that was essentially born on reality TV, and now the lines between reality and TV may be blurring even further. The president has chosen a cable news personality to be his top economic adviser. But Larry Kudlow certainly isn’t the only wire running straight from TV to the White House. Randi Kaye has more.
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RANDI KAYE: But Kudlow’s not the only TV personality to see their profile rise in recent days. Former Fox anchor Heather Nauert left broadcasting not even a year ago to work as spokesperson for the State Department.
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With Rex Tillerson’s departure Nauert was bumped up to the fourth in line at the State Department, despite having no experience in diplomatic affairs. And another Fox personality could be joining the administration. Pete Hegseth is currently a Fox morning show host, but is reportedly being considered to run the sprawling Department of Veterans Affairs that employs just under 400,000 people. Hegseth has no experience in either health care or management but is an Iraq war veteran.
President Trump doesn’t just hire media types, he consults them too. He’s dined recently with Fox News personalities Jesse Watters and Geraldo Rivera, reportedly gossiping about politics and TV. Afterward Watters tweeting a picture of the menu, signed by the president, “To Jesse, you are great.” The president once called Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle to discuss pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
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And it’s widely known the president leans on host Sean Hannity for advice. He not only consulted Hannity on the Iran nuclear deal but Hannity had also reportedly advised the president to release a controversial GOP memo alleging corruption and anti-Trump bias by FBI officials investigating the campaign. Hannity painted it to be a massive political scandal.
