Why you won’t see this SC politico on CNN anymore
A conservative commentator from South Carolina will no longer be a regular contributor on CNN.
Former S.C. Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer did not have his contract renewed with the cable news network, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Speaking to The State, Bauer said he never sought the opportunity to appear part-time on the network, and is unsure where or if he might return to TV when a 30-day noncompete clause in his contract expires.
“They came to me, and it was an honor and an opportunity to be able to express my opinion as a business person and a former officeholder,” he said. “Not once did they tell me what I could and could not say, which was refreshing.”
Bauer became a regular CNN contributor in 2016 when the network was looking to feature supporters of then-GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump
“They were looking for someone who could offer a perspective, who was an officeholder or had held office, and had endorsed Trump,” Bauer told The State in 2016, adding, “That was a short list.”
The list may be longer now. But Bauer doesn’t think Trump supporters are the demographic the network is going after.
“I don’t think that’s the avenue they’re taking,” he told The State. “If you look at who they’re hiring now, it’s a different direction they’re working on.”
In an email to the Hollywood Reporter, the former lieutenant governor said he was “very thankful for the opportunity CNN gave me.”
Bauer also expressed regret there would be one less conservative voice on the network.
“The silent majority in our country feel like they do not have a voice in politics or the media,” he wrote. “I have tried to express many of their feelings and why they supported Donald Trump.”
Bauer’s CNN appearances came to an end as part of “the natural churn of contributors,” a network source told The Hill. The source said the network, typically, does not publicize these kind of changes.
Bauer was a member of the S.C. Legislature before he was elected lieutenant governor in 2002, while Republican Mark Sanford was governor. Bauer lost a GOP primary bid for governor in 2010 and ran for Congress in the newly created 7th District in 2012, losing the Republican nomination to now-U.S. Rep. Tom Rice.
This story was originally published February 5, 2019 at 12:20 PM.
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