CNN’s ratings have been in a free fall since the Mueller report. While MSNBC has seen some rebound though, CNN are now drawing less viewers per night than the Hallmark Channel, mundanely sitting in the mid-600,000s. Their numbers in the key demo are even worse, drawing only about 200,000 people.

It’s an unsustainable path for a network that’s collapsing and bloated beyond extreme.

This led to over a hundred employees accepting buyouts. When people started reporting that layoffs were coming at CNN, their Baghdad Bob stepped up to the plate with this hilarious spin.

There's a rumor making the rounds today about big impending layoffs at CNN. A CNN spokeswoman is knocking it down on the record: "No layoffs." There WERE voluntary buyouts throughout the organization, and about 100 people opted for it.

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 6, 2019

Who wants to tell him?

You see Brian, companies don’t offer buyouts if they aren’t looking to cull their staffs. In fact, buyouts are the normal first step in the corporate world when it comes to layoffs. You give people a chance to voluntarily leave a sinking ship. If at the end of that there’s still too much dead weight, the involuntarily buyouts begin, i.e. those are called layoffs. The net result is the same and the purpose is the same.

CNN sold its soul to oppose Trump, peddling in conspiracy theories for years, all the while trying to spin their massive bias as objective news. This is why MSNBC is still doing ok. They are at least honest about what they are. Meanwhile, CNN gaslights the nation by assuring us that Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, and Chris Cuomo are just “news anchors.” People don’t like being lied to and those that want rabid Trump hatred can get an even more unhinged version of it on Rachel Maddow every night.

While Stelter obfuscates from the obvious, it’s clear CNN is in trouble. At this point, they’ve got to be betting everything on the 2020 election but even that might not be enough. More downsizing is inevitable.