CNN denied it banned top White House aide Stephen Miller from appearing on the network after he claimed the channel turned down his offer to speak on any topic with any host at any time.
During an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Wednesday, Miller said the left-leaning cable network refused to book him after the White House’s communications team reached out.
“The White House said Stephen is available to discuss any topic with any host at any time. As far as you’re concerned, Stephen has no scheduling conflicts at all. He will make himself available from the first hour of air to the last hour of air on any subject,” Miller told host Sean Hannity.
“And you know what? CNN’s response was, ‘We will not take him, period, on any show on any topic,’” added Miller, who’s known for his confrontational style.
On Thursday, CNN rejected that account and said it welcomes members of the Trump administration to appear on the network.
“As a news organization, we make editorial decisions about the stories we cover and when, and that depends on the news priorities of the day,” a CNN spokesperson told The Post in a statement.
“We look forward to having Stephen on again in the future as the news warrants.”
Miller — who serves as both White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser — said he wanted to appear on CNN to debunk some of its “lies,” since the outlet runs “one fake news hit piece after another.”
President Trump is pushing for a new owner for CNN as part of any sale of its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.
“I think CNN should be sold, because I think the people that are running CNN right now are either corrupt or incompetent,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.
“I don’t think they should be entrusted with running CNN any longer. So I think any deal should — it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately.”
Warner Bros. Discovery said last week that it agreed to sell its streaming and studio business to Netflix in a $72 billion deal that did not include its cable assets, such as CNN and TNT.
After news of the Netflix deal, Paramount Skydance launched a hostile bid to take over the entire company.
The firm’s chief executive, David Ellison, met with Trump officials in Washington, DC, last week to make his case against the Netflix deal, The Post previously reported.
During Miller’s appearance Wednesday, Hannity joked that he would miss seeing Miller debate CNN hosts on-air.
“That was some of the best material we’d ever had on the program, in the history of the program, is you schooling these hosts, and now I guess they might have figured out it’s ratings gold for this program,” Hannity said, referring to the clips he would air on his own show.
“So Sean, I think that your decision to play the clips of me on CNN has resulted in CNN refusing to take me,” Miller replied with a laugh.
Hannity threw up his hands, saying: “Ah, that is awful! I was actually giving them the highest viewership they ever had by replaying you beating them up — verbally, of course.”
Fox News shares a common owner, News Corp, with The Post.
