Will Dan Rather ever go away? The disgraced CBS journalist, who pushed a fake news story about George W. Bush’s Air National Guard service in the waning days of the 2004 election, says the recent leaks from the Trump administration were a public service. He made those remarks while speaking to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Tuesday night (via The Hill):
Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather on Tuesday commended recent leaks to the press, including a climate change report published by the New York Times, calling leaks a "public service" to Americans.
"Obviously President Trump and those in his administration didn't want this information out, but somebody somewhere said the public needs to know this," Rather said on MSNBC's "All in with Chris Hayes."
Rather pointed to a leaked report published by The New York Times that revealed climate scientists who work for the federal government fear the Trump administration will try to suppress a new study on climate change’s impact on the U.S.
"They did a public service by letting somebody in journalism, in this case, the New York Times, know it," Rather told Hayes.
Mr. Rather, who has taught journalism courses on finding truth in the news, has also been very vocal about calling out the Trump White House’s lies. It’s a very ironic twist for a man who pushed fake documents to run a hit piece on George Bush that embroiled his entire network in scandal. To make things more maddening, Rather still stands by his story. The leaks are a serious issue, but I’d stay clear of a man who has legitimately peddled fake news when it comes to the question of whether something was for the public good or not.