Dan Rather: Interview On Trump, Controversy, Getting Fired, Net Worth And More
Dan Rather, the host of AXS TV's "The Big Interview," is spending days interacting with celebrities and making gossips about their life, but back in the 2000s, he was a real journalist covering major political and social issues.
Dan as an ambitious man is always looking to make headlines, even to the point of him getting fired. Dan, whose fame mostly comes from playing an antagonist to the on-duty US President, has decided to repeat his infamous pattern and go after the current president, Donald Trump.
Back To Business: Legendary newsman Dan Rather joined The Young Turks' network of programs to break down President Trump's statements on his impact on the American economy. (Published: 29 Jan 2018)
Today let's take a look at the life of this former news anchor and all the controversy he was indulged in till this date!
Dan Rather' Short Bio
Dan Rather was born as Daniel Irvin Rather on 31 October 1931 in Wharton, Texas, to parents Daniel Irvin Rather Sr. and Byrl Veda. His father was a ditch digger while his mother worked as a seamstress and waitress.
Interesting: CBS' Vladimir Duthiers A Married Man? Insight On Personal Life
Dan completed his college education at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. Dan's career in CBS News started in 1962 after he was hired as Bureau chief for Southwest Bureau in Dallas.
He later went on to anchor some major shows of CBS News like CBS Evening News, 48 Hours and 60 Minutes and has been awarded several Emmy and Peabody Awards for his contribution. In 2012, Dan received the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Award
Dan Rather'sTake On Trump Turned To Talk Of The Town
Dan had been away from the limelight for some time until recently he decided to share his views regarding the US President. However, he had no words of praise for the notorious Trump, only accusations, and criticisms.
Back in December 2017, Dan appeared on the TBS' show, Conan. Talking to the host Conan O'Brien, he criticized Trump's decision of publicly admiring Rob Porter, the former staff secretary of White House who was accused of abusing his ex-wives.
Trump had earlier praised Rob, who resigned after the accusations, saying that he had done a great job while at White House and that he had a great career ahead, to which Dan responded by pointing out that credibly accused wives abusers should not be allowed the honor of serving the White House. He further commented on the age of President Trump and compared him with "bad oysters" which can make people sick if eaten.
Don't Miss: Faith Daniels, Married Life With Husband - Juggling Family And Career Perfectly
Moreover, Dan accused Trump of being racist and running a campaign to turn young people against the press. He further stated that it was not normal for the US to have such a President.
Know Dan Rather's Earlier Controversies
While president Trump has not yet commented on Dan's interview and maybe he will not; however, the former President wasn't so kind to Dan. Back in 2004, months after Dan reported about the tortures and murders taking place at a jail near Baghdad; Dan, along with his producer Mary Mapes, decided to make things personal with President Bush by questioning his years of service at the National Guard.
Bush, who had served at the Texas Air National Guard from 1968-73, was accused of receiving preferential behavior at the camp. The CBS News report that aired on the 60 minutes on 8 September 2004, accused the former President of joining the National Guard in order to avoid entering the war at Vietnam and also going AWOL (absent without leave) from the camp.
As evidence, Dan presented photocopies of memos written by the squadron commander of Bush's unit and secured from Bill Burkett, who was the Lieutenant Colonel in the Texas Air National Guard. The memos stated that Bush was ordered to appear for a physical in 1972, but he did not obey and further raised the speculations that he had gone AWOL.
For a while, the Bush Administration remained silent as the Presidential Elections were approaching soon, but Dan misunderstood their patience for his victory.
Also Read: Masika Kalysha Bio: Fetty Wap Talks To Daughter, Parents | Explicit Details
However, shortly after the elections concluded and Bush retained his position as the President of United States, an independent investigation was carried out to check the authenticity of the documentary and the memos that had been presented as evidence.
Controversy Costed Dan Rather A Big Deal
It turned out that Dan didn't even consider verifying the documents before showing them on national television. The documentary was disowned after it came to light that the correct procedures were not followed before airing the report on national TV. Dan agreed, but he pointed out that the documents were never proven to be forgeries.
Dan not only lost his credibility due to the controversy but lost his seat at the anchor's desk as well. He got fired from CBS News in 2006 after being involved with the news channel for nearly 44 years.
Dan initially decided to keep mum, but later filed a $70 million lawsuit against CBS network. The suit then was dismissed in 2009 at New York State appeal court.
Had Dan won the lawsuit he would have doubled his existing net worth of $70 million, earned in more than five-decade-long career.
Dan Rather On Role Of Meme Geek!
Now that Dan knows the world is too ignorant to get along with the pursuit of hard-hitting journalism, he is holding on to sarcasm to ring the issues.
Even if he hadn’t been fired from CBS, he would have come of age to sign retirement in the first place.
Interesting: Christiane Amanpour From CNN: A Blessed Wedding That Got Her Husband And A Son
The position was confiscated and what’s left is agony. He’s found Twitter as a perfect platform to let out his agony.
However, this time around he is cautious not to be offensive and puts his satirical tactics to use in his tweets.
Meme Game: Dan Rather's satirical tweet on Trump's comment defying constitution (Photo: Dan Rather's Twitter- 30 Oct 2018)
Besides, he regularly appears on The Young Turks network’s The News With Dan Rather. It is via the network that he satisfies his critiques- huge part of it being Trump talks.
Oh, how can we miss out on his guidelines for remaining protected from the fake news that he shared in TYT! One of six guidelines saying- “If your news doesn’t challenge you, challenge your news.”