OANN has made a name for its self by being the Pro-Trump “conservative” alternative to Fox News. It’s their “brand” and why conservatives have flocked to the cable network after so-called “fair and balanced” Fox went down the tubes.
I like OANN, I think they offer a great alternative to Fox News, I also am a big fan of many of their reporters, namely Jack Posobiec, who is fair, rationale, and a staunch Christian family man.
However, if you’re going to market yourself as “pro-Trump” and “conservative, it’s probably a good idea not to hire a self-proclaimed progressive who passive-aggressively slams Trump all-day on his Twitter feed.
The reporter I am speaking of is named Alex Salvi and he hosts a “late-night” show on OANN called “After Hours with Alex Salvi” that films out of San Diego, California.
Back in June of this year, Alex participated in a Politico [1] piece entitled: “The Unhappy Liberals Inside Trump’s Favorite Network.”
According to his interview in the “unhappy liberal” piece, Alex appears to just be using OANN as a way to break into the “broadcast journo” biz. I guess OANN is just a place card until he gets that prime-time spot on CNN or MSNBC?
In addition, Alex also interned for a rabid anti-Trump Dem Rep named Mike Quigley out of Illinois.
Here’s an excerpt from the “Unhappy Liberals at OANN” piece:
The four employees I spoke to who are currently at OAN say that unlike Pocock, they knew they were joining a network with a reputation for being Trumpian when they were hired. For the three anchors, working for OAN was a way to skip the traditional broadcast journalism path of toiling away for a local affiliate for years before getting a national audience.
“It’s a little bit harder to break into those markets since they’re a little bit more established, and they have their own affiliates throughout the country,” said Alex Salvi, who hosts the 10 p.m. slot “After Hours with Alex Salvi.” “So I saw an opportunity there that I thought I should capitalize on.”
In part, the ideological bent of the San Diego newsroom is due to age and political geography. “Because the headquarters is in San Diego, all the employees tend to be a lot more progressive,” said Salvi, who added that the newsroom skews quite young. Salvi, a 28-year-old with a law degree from Valparaiso University Law School and a graduate journalism degree from the University of Southern California, occupies a role as OAN’s Brian Stelter, covering the nexus of politics and media. “There are your hardcore conservatives, but it’s safe to assume that the majority of us are all pretty liberal.”
Salvi confided in me that while at Valparaiso, he crafted several blogs as the editor-in-chief of the school’s law blog that were critical of then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s response to the Scott County HIV outbreak. He interned for Democratic Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley in Chicago. On a recent weekend off, he returned to Chicago to follow the protests there, though didn’t use his reporting on the network.
Alex has a Twitter account with over 73 thousand followers, most of whom I’d guess are MAGA supporters and who are eager to help support “pro-Trump OANN.” I bet most haven’t a clue that Mr. Salvi is actually a progressive because he’s very careful to passive-aggressively slam Trump.
Alex shares slews of anti-Trump articles every day.
Stuff like this:
https://twitter.com/alexsalvinews/status/1295095945655234561
Or my personal favorite, where Alex shared the video below and calls the abusive, vulgar mob of BLM bullies who verbally abused and intimidated teenagers outside their home, “protesters” who “assembled” at a police union man’s home.
In truth, this was one of the most vulgar and disgusting rants and examples of “child abuse’ I’ve seen in a long while, but to Alex, it’s just “protesters assembling.”
I guess that makes sense when you realize he’s a liberal, right?
https://twitter.com/alexsalvinews/status/1295090954110558208
However, Alex shares positive videos from Biden’s Twitter page. Again, makes sense.
https://twitter.com/alexsalvinews/status/1295101437114949632
Of course, Alex has a right to believe whatever he wants, and share whatever tickles his fancy, it’s still a free country – sort of. And just to be clear, I am not sharing this with you because I want to see Alex lose his livelihood, not at all. I do wish, however, Mr. Salvi would be more upfront about his political views and his liberal ideology instead of hiding behind this passive-aggressive “Trump hate,” so people could make a more educated decision on whether or not they want to support him.
Conservatives – namely MAGA people are very kind and trusting people. They see the name “OANN” and instantly think “pro-Trump” and want to support them. And I don’t blame them, since OANN has marketed themselves that way.
But, this is the most important election of our lifetime, and we need to know who’s in the foxhole with us and who isn’t.
We should have all the facts in front of us so we can make wise decisions because we’re not going to get a second chance at 2020 – it’s Trump or doomsday – so we should make sure we’re pouring our support and energy into those people and reporters who are fighting right along side of us with the same goal of saving this country from progressive communism.
This piece was written by Missy Crane on August 16, 2020. It originally appeared in WayneDupree.com [4] and is used by permission.