Donald Trump used his social network, Truth Social, to mourn the death of Ted Turner, founder of CNN and a close friend of the American president. Turner died at the age of 87 last Wednesday (6).
“Ted Turner, one of the all-time greats, has just died. He founded CNN, sold it and was personally devastated by the deal because the new ownership took CNN, his ‘baby,’ and destroyed it. It became ‘woke,’ and everything he did not represent,” Trump said in the post.
“Perhaps the new buyers, wonderful people, will be able to bring it back to its former credibility and glory. Regardless, however, he was one of the greats in broadcasting history, and a friend of mine. Whenever I needed him, he was there, always willing to fight for a good cause!”
Turner Enterprises, the conglomerate Turner founded in 1976 to manage his vast business portfolio, announced his death on Wednesday (6). “Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgment,” said Mark Thompson, CEO of CNN.
“He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and all of us will take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and on the world.”
Turner’s main business, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., was a media conglomerate made up of numerous brands, television channels and subsidiaries, including Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, TBS and CNN.
The company was founded in 1965 and sold to Time Warner in 1996. Although he remained involved with the news network as vice chairman of Time Warner, he eventually stepped away from the business entirely in the early 2000s.
Trump and Turner did not maintain a public friendship after the sale of the company. Over the years, Turner was often on the opposite side of Trump politically, showing sympathy for Palestinians during the conflict with Israel in 2002, supporting environmental causes and backing Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
But Turner became a vocal critic of CNN, expressing his view in 2018 that the network had leaned too heavily into politics. Currently, CNN is undergoing another merger, after its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, was acquired by Paramount Skydance, Trump’s partner, in February.
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