In a rare moment of honesty from inside the liberal media machine, CNN correspondent Donie O’Sullivan is finally admitting what conservatives have long known: deplatforming Trump supporters, silencing dissent, and treating anyone who questions the establishment narrative as inhuman doesn’t solve anything — it only makes things worse.
Promoting his new podcast *Persuadable*, O’Sullivan pushed back against his own progressive critics who are angry that he dares to “humanize” supporters of President Trump or people who question things like the 2020 election results or COVID mandates.
“The thing I get a lot—a question that always normally comes from the left online—is, ‘Why are you humanizing this person? Why are you humanizing this human being?’” O’Sullivan said in exasperation. “I find it so… just… really… annoying!”
Imagine that. A CNN journalist finally catching on to the fact that smearing half the country as subhuman for daring to disagree with the ruling class might not be the best strategy. It’s a line of attack the Left has used for years — branding conservatives as “conspiracy theorists,” “anti-science,” or worse, and then wondering why they’re not winning hearts and minds.
O’Sullivan even took aim at the sacred cow of the modern left — censorship. “The platforming argument’s just bogus,” he said. “All this stuff is happening anyway.” In other words, trying to shut people up hasn’t worked. No matter how hard Big Tech and corporate media try to bury dissenting voices, the American people are still talking — and still thinking for themselves.
Fellow CNN correspondent Elle Reeve echoed the frustration, calling the no-platforming movement “totally bankrupt.” She admitted what millions of Americans already knew: ignoring conservatives, banning them from social media, and pretending their ideas don’t exist hasn’t made them go away. Quite the opposite — it’s only deepened the divide.
Reeve said, “We’re all human beings. Dehumanization is bad.” A stunning revelation from a network that spent years painting Trump supporters as dangerous extremists and threats to democracy for daring to question authority.
O’Sullivan also touched on the need to actually talk to people instead of preaching down to them. “If I want to have a constructive conversation… I just have to accept that they don’t believe the 2020 election was fair,” he said. Rather than trying to browbeat people with “fact-checks” or mock them for their beliefs, he’s learning that listening — instead of lecturing — might actually be more productive.
His new podcast *Persuadable* explores how people form beliefs in today’s so-called “information chaos.” Ironically, much of that chaos has been fueled by the very media complex he’s part of — a machine that spent years flooding the airwaves with partisan narratives and censoring opposing viewpoints.
Whether this signals a genuine shift in the media’s approach remains to be seen. But for now, it’s refreshing — and frankly a little amusing — to watch progressive journalists finally acknowledge that silencing and dehumanizing conservatives has only backfired. Welcome to reality, CNN. Some of us have been living here for years.
