Larry King says CNN isn't a news network anymore; it's a 'Trump' network: 'They do pundits

Interviewing icon Larry King said CNN isn't a news network any longer and has become — along with Fox News and MSNBC — a "Trump" network, continually focusing on the exploits of President Donald Trump, Mediaite reported.

"They do pundits," King said of CNN, his former network of many years.

King offered his observations during a Thursday interview with the Mediaite-affiliated Law & Crime Network that touched on CNN’s lawsuit against the Trump administration for pulling the press credentials of Jim Acosta, the network's chief White House correspondent.

'It was childish'

“Jim was a little out of line," King said. "I wouldn’t have gone that far. [Trump] answered one or two questions, then he didn’t want to answer anymore. You got a room full of people, all of whom have the right to ask questions. Jim might have gone a little too far. The president kept going back to him. ... To me, you know what this was? Eighth grade. It was the playground: ‘That’s my ball and I wanna play today on the team.’ It was childish.”

King also criticized the growing trend of journalists and pundits putting themselves at the center of stories, particularly when it concerns Trump.

"At a Trump press conference, Trump is the star," King said, adding that for journalists questioning the president, "you’re not bigger than [Trump]. It isn’t about you; it’s about him."

'They do pundits'

King then criticized CNN and other cable news networks.

“CNN has become — as is Fox and MSNBC — Trump networks," he said. "There’s the anti-Trump network, the partial anti-Trump network, and the pro-Trump network. But they’re not news networks.”

Responding to the interviewer's comment that King once said "CNN stopped doing news a long time ago," King added to it, saying "they do pundits."

In regard to networks competing for ratings in the age of Trump, King declared that "a news organization leads the news, [it] doesn’t follow the news."

Here's the interview. The relevant portion starts at the 1-minute mark: