Sarah Isgur Flores, the former leading spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, will join CNN next month as political editor.
In this role, Isgur Flores will help coordinate the network’s political coverage across all TV and digital platforms. According to a source, it’s a brand new position and she won’t be replacing anyone.
The hire seems to have surprised many in media, in part because she has never worked in a newsroom. Then, there’s the fact that she has criticized the network on multiple occasions in the past.
According to Politico, which first reported the hire, Pres. Trump initially wasn’t too enthusastic about the prospect of bringing on Isgur Flores back in 2017, a political operative who had criticized him on the presidential campaign trail. Before joining the DOJ, (and departing the role when Sessions left), Isgur Flores was the deputy campaign manager for Carly Fiorina’s presidential campaign. In the months after Fiorina left the race, she was extremely critical of Trump out of the race, Isgur Flores repeatedly attacked Trump.
But she was not exactly complimentary of Clinton during the 2016 race.
As Department of Justice spokesperson, Isgur was not only spokesperson for then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but she also served as spokeswoman for deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, the man overseeing the Mueller probe.
At CNN, Isgur Flores reportedly will not play a role in covering the DOJ, but she will occasionally appear on air analyzing politics.
It appears many on the left aren’t pleased with the hire.
This is absolutely insane @CNNPolitics. Why on earth would you hire a right-wing hack to oversee political coverage in 2020? You just gave every Democrat in the country a reason to doubt your objectivity. https://t.co/bjRKPqAIm6
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) February 19, 2019
.@CNN your political director called you the Clinton News Network pic.twitter.com/CZdejic3fF
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) February 19, 2019
CNN’s new political editor has worked for every Republican but hasn’t done any journalism pic.twitter.com/2q1oAgj7dB
— Simon Maloy (@SimonMaloy) February 19, 2019
But back to Sarah Isgur Flores and CNN for a second: Remember that she *pledged loyalty to Trump* in order to get her last job. But hey, sure, have her coordinate your 2020 coverage, CNN. Sure that’ll be fair and not full of empty podiums/free Trump ads. https://t.co/c8mhZzVpSZ
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) February 19, 2019
LOL. CNN’s new political editor — tasked with coordinating political coverage for the 2020 cycle for TV and digital — once smeared her new employer as the “Clinton News Network.” https://t.co/iBOQAn2hnA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 19, 2019
Not everyone hates the hire! At least one media figure is a fan.
This is a solid hire, @CNN https://t.co/FtFniLbbGj
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) February 19, 2019