CBS News has named former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney as a network contributor, announcing the hiring of the ex-director of the Office of Management and Budget on air Tuesday morning. “You’re the guy to ask about this,” CBS News anchor Anne-Marie Green said while introducing Mulvaney during a segment criticizing the Biden administration’s plan to raise taxes on billionaires. CBS News’ hiring of Mulvaney raises the number of former President Donald Trump’s chiefs of staff on their payroll to two, as they brought on Reince Priebus as a political analyst in 2020. Mulvaney joining the network has already raised eyebrows, especially from progressives, largely due to his checkered record with the Trump administration. Before walking back his comments and claiming the press “misconstrued” them, Mulvaney told reporters to “get over it” on whether Trump sought a quid pro quo from Ukraine in 2019. “There is going to be political influence in foreign policy,” he added, seemingly admitting Trump held up military aid to pressure Ukraine’s president to meddle in the 2020 election. Additionally, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Mulvaney waved off concerns while suggesting it was all just part of the media’s “hoax of the day” to hurt Trump’s presidency. Even after Trump lost the 2020 election, Mulvaney insisted the outgoing president would “concede gracefully” and slammed press outlets that worried Trump would not “participate in a peaceful transition of power”—a position that obviously did not age well.
