If anyone wants to see why there are so many anti-Trump people on cable and other networks, maybe it is because they get paid, big, for their views.  As long as they are anti-Trump, they can get these TV gigs and goose their pay quite a bit.  Nice work if you can get it.

They generally don't mention it to the viewers.  Fact is, these gigs are nothing but side-hustles, and ones that reek of hypocrisy.  It's these very "journalists" who somehow see something wrong with President Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, touting his knowledge of all things Trump to assorted clients.

I do not believe we have seen any indication that Trump has changed his views on any supposed influence-peddling by Cohen, or based on who is paying Cohen, so there is no corruption – just a bunch of dumb people who gave Cohen their money.

But to the side-hustle journalists, this is a big issue to make overblown, stoking frenzies.  If these same journalists were pro-Trump, their services would not be in demand.

BuzzFeed of all places pointed this out pretty bluntly:

It's A Good Time To Be A Reporter Covering Trump If You Like Money And Going On TV

CNN contributors include the New York Times' Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Martin, and Julie Hirschfeld Davis, the Washington Post's Josh Dawsey and Josh Rogin, Politico's Rachael Bade, Time's Molly Ball, Bloomberg's Margaret Talev, and AP's Julie Pace. NBC News and MSNBC have signed on contributors such as Philip Rucker, Robert Costa, David Fahrenthold, and Ashley Parker from the Washington Post, the Daily Beast's Betsy Woodruff, Gabe Sherman and Emily Jane Fox from Vanity Fair, and Peter Baker, Matt Apuzzo, Jeremy Peters, Charlie Savage, and Michael Schmidt at the New York Times.

Compensation ranges widely, but it has risen in recent years, according to reporters, agents, and network sources. Starting contributor rates for political reporters fall between about $30,000 and $50,000 a year. Top reporters can earn between $50,000 and $90,000 for their TV side-hustles, and some seasoned pros – boosted by loyalty and multi-year arrangements – make as much as $250,000.

That money is, of course, on top of a base salary from their main written-word employer – meaning that some political reporters are raking in low-to-mid six figures per year[.]

Hillary and Bill Clinton always sold political favors in exchange for speech fees or for contributions to their minimally charitable foundation.

Obama sold green energy loans for campaign contributions and was also willing to destroy industries and block pipelines for groups that supported him.

Now the rent-seeking and influence-peddling go to journalists, too.  Journalists don't care about facts when they go after Trump for money.  There has never been any actual evidence supporting Russian collusion with Trump, yet a huge number of journalists will go on TV after writing articles to expand the false message further and pocket some pretty change.

I would say journalists are just like prostitutes but prostitutes are honest about what they peddle. The significant majority of journalists just say whatever it takes to get paid.

Image credit: Investment Zen via Flickr, Creative Commons SA 2.0.