CNN Hires Racist, Sexist McCain Adviser

CAMBRIDGE, MA - MARCH 5, 2007: Alex Castellanos, senior advisor to Mitt Romney, speaks during the ''Campaign 2008: Looking Ahead'' panel discussion at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University on March 5, 2007 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

MediaMatters: "Media Matters"; by Jamison Foser
Why did CNN hire Castellanos, who has a history of using "racially charged" tactics? And why won't it note he's advising McCain?

Alex Castellanos is an adviser to John McCain, and CNN has hired him to comment on politics -- but CNN never tells viewers that he is a McCain adviser.

And here's what he said about Hillary Clinton:

On CNN this week, Republican strategist and CNN contributor Alex Castellanos responded to criticism of a joke that referred to Hillary Clinton as a "bitch" by saying, "[S]ome women, by the way, are named that and it's accurate."

Alex Castellanos created Jesse Helms's racist "white hands" ad against Harvey Gantt (Helms's black opponent) in 1990. The ad showed a pair of white hands crumpling a rejection letter while the narrator says this:

"You needed that job, and you were the best qualified, but they had to give it to a minority, because of a racial quota. Is that really fair? Harvey Gantt says it is. Gantt supports Ted Kennedy's racial quota law that makes the color of your skin more important than your qualifications. Your vote on this issue next Tuesday. For racial quotas, Harvey Gantt. Against racial quotas, Jesse Helms."

Watch it here:


Here's the contact page for CNN to protest against Castellanos being on TV.