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Ex-Trump Aide Gets Different CNN Job After Hiring Outcry

A former Trump administration official hired by CNN as a political editor will instead be a political analyst.

Ex-Trump Aide Gets Different CNN Job After Hiring Outcry
Donald Trump, 2016 Republican presidential candidate, is seen speaking on a television screen in the filing center during the Republican presidential primary candidate debate sponsored by CNN (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- A former Trump administration official hired by CNN as a political editor will instead be a political analyst, the network confirmed, following pressure from critics who said she shouldn’t be involved in news coverage.

Last month, CNN hired Sarah Isgur, a former spokeswoman and senior counsel at the Justice Department, to be an editor who would help coordinate political coverage. On Friday, Isgur tweeted that she will be a CNN political analyst starting next month.

“When Sarah came to us and proposed her role be adjusted to a political analyst instead, we agreed and we look forward to her starting in that role,” CNN said Friday in an email.

Ex-Trump Aide Gets Different CNN Job After Hiring Outcry

The hiring sparked an uproar because Isgur recently worked under President Donald Trump, who has criticized CNN and other media outlets as “fake news” and “enemy of the people.” She also worked for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose leak investigations were seen as attacks on the media. She had no prior journalism experience.

While her role in CNN’s news division may have been rare, there’s a long history of political operatives becoming analysts and on-air personalities.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gerry Smith in New York at gsmith233@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum, Linus Chua

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.