CBS News taps ‘DEI expert’ who mocked Black senator as ‘Uncle Tim’ in wake of Tony Dokoupil scandal

CBS News’ new DEI consultant may need to undergo his own racial sensitivity training.

Network execs reportedly tapped Dr. Donald Grant — who calls himself a “mental health expert DEI strategist and trauma trainer” on his Instagram — to quell internal unrest after he said an interview between the host he morning show Tony Dokoupil and author Ta-Nehisi Coates did not live up to his “editorial standards.”

But CBS may want to reconsider its choice of mediator.

Grant, who is apparently black and hates MAGA, released an altered cover of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic slavery novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” — featuring the face of South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Donald Trump supporter. other characters.

The post on Grant’s Instagram account, which he posted earlier this year, changed the title to “Uncle Tim’s Cabin” and also included an image of conservative commentator Candace Owens.

A source close to the situation called CBS News’ decision “idiotic” and noted the irony that the Tiffany Network would hire someone who is “incredibly racist.”

CBS News has not commented on its decision to exploit Grant, which was first reported by Puck News.

Scott immediately jumped on the controversial decision to tap Grant, reposting his edited book cover on fundraising platform Win Red on Monday evening.

“The disgusting rhetoric above is EXACTLY what awaits us if we allow the radical, intolerant left to win,” Scott wrote.

“If you believe in a stronger America, if you believe that we are better together than divided, then I am counting on you to stand with me now! »

Earlier in the day, the network drew outrage from CBS News staff after they criticized Dokoupil for pressuring Coates over the controversial author’s pro-Palestinian view of Hamas’ war against Israel during last week’s testy interview on “CBS Mornings.”

CBS News boss Wendy McMahon and Adrienne Roark, president of content development for the news division, say the “CBS Mornings” host brought his own bias into Coates’ meeting interview with workers on the first anniversary of October 1, 2017. 7 massacre, according to several reports.

They said the session, conducted last week, did not meet editorial standards for impartiality — although they declined to provide details, Bari Weiss’ Puck News and Free Press reported.

“We will continue to hold people accountable. But we will do it objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door,” Roark said, according to media reports. “We are here to report news without fear or favor. »

The harsh criticism did not go down well with several of Dokoupil’s supporters, including CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford.

“I don’t even understand why Tony’s interview didn’t meet our editorial standards…I thought our commitment was to the truth,” Crawford was quoted as saying by Puck.

“When someone comes on our airwaves with a one-sided account of a very complex situation – which Coates himself acknowledges – my understanding is that as journalists we are obliged to question that worldview, so that our viewers can have access to the truth and can have a more balanced account.

Critics on social media and CBS staff blasted Dokoupil’s direct questions about Coates’ book “The Message,” in which he condemned what he called Israeli “apartheid” in its administration of the territories captured during the Six Day War of 1967.

Dokoupil, a convert to Judaism whose ex-wife lives in Israel with their two children, disputed Coates’ opinion, saying the book “would not be out of place in an extremist’s backpack” because of its characterization of Israel.

Dokoupil asked Coates why he did not include more pro-Israeli voices or note in his work that “little children (were) blown to pieces” in Palestinian terrorist attacks.

“Is it because you simply don’t believe that Israel, whatever the conditions, has the right to exist? » asked Dokoupil.

Coates responded that Israeli discourse was well represented in the mainstream American press and that few Palestinian voices had a chance to be heard.

“I wrote a 260-page book,” Coates said. “This is not a treatise on the entire conflict between Palestinians and Israelis,” Coates said, acknowledging that the narrative was based on his 10-day trip to Israel and the Palestinian West Bank.

Crawford praised Dokoupil for “challenging Coates’ one-sided worldview” and then giving the author a chance to respond.

“It was civil…I don’t see how we can say he didn’t meet our editorial standards,” Crawford was quoted as saying.

She added that Dokoupil “prevented the broadcast on our network of a one-sided narrative about a situation that is deeply complex and completely devoid of history or facts. “As journalists, this is what we have an obligation to do.”