The former White House press secretary received $30,000 from the Republican National Committee.
By Paul Farhi Paul Farhi Media reporter Email Bio Follow May 30 at 10:00 AM Ari Fleischer, President George W. Bush’s press secretary, has carved out a career as a prominent TV talking head, first on CNN and now on Fox News. In his many appearances on Fox, he has criticized mainstream media coverage of President Trump, bashed the president’s political opponents and expressed general support for his agenda.
TV pundits often have connections to political organizations or candidates; indeed, they are invited to comment on the air because of their experience or insider knowledge. But the standard practice among news organizations is to disclose these affiliations on the air. People at the network said they were unaware of Fleischer’s involvement with the RNC until asked about it by a reporter on Tuesday. A spokeswoman, however, said Fox saw no need to disclose Fleischer’s work for the RNC because he hasn’t directly commented on the RNC itself.
In an interview, Fleischer said the payment from the RNC was for three sessions of media training he conducted with the organization’s employees in the past few months. He said it was the first time he had worked directly for the RNC. He drew a distinction between his work for the RNC and that of, say, a pundit who works directly for a candidate or a political action committee that seeks to elect candidates. “It’s not as if I’m a consultant to the RNC,” he said.
Fleischer’s ties to the RNC are at least the third instance in the past two years in which the network didn’t disclose the vested interest of one of its commentators.
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