CNN’s White House Correspondent John Harwood To Exit Amid Network Turmoil

John Harwood, CNN’s White House correspondent, will retire Friday, he announced via Twitter.

Harwood joined CNN in 2020, having previously worked for CNBC between 2006 and 2019. CNN’s bio states that Harwood was an ex-White House correspondent. Harwood has covered the nine previous presidential cycles. He first reported that John McCain, the failed presidential candidate, had selected Sarah Palin to be his running mate during Obama’s rise in 2008.

CNN released a brief statement regarding Harwood’s departure. “We are grateful for John’s coverage of the White House and wish him the very best.”

Harwood’s resignation from CNN follows Brian Stelter’s exit from the network in August 18. CNN could have retained Stelter as an employee, but decided to not retain his services. CNN could have kept Stelter’s show, but decided to cancel it. Stelter’s show had its lowest episode rating since September 2019 in June.

Breitbart News reported that Chris Licht, CNN’s new chief, was “ready to boot On-Air personalities who have destroyed brand by becoming irredeemable hacks,” meaning Harwood and Stelter were in the hot seat after fresh rebranding strategies were presented.

After being quizzed about his relationship to long-time CNN executive Allison Gollust in the wider Andrew Cuomo probe, Jeff Zucker, former president of CNN, resigned from CNN in February. According to the probe, Chris Cuomo, former CNN anchor, had assisted his brother, the then-New York Governor. Through a scandal of sexual harassment, Andrew Cuomo was exposed.