One of the hosts of The Hill’s morning show says she abruptly resigned because she was blocked from participating in the outlet’s interview of Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser and Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Kim Iversen has been a host of The Hill’s “Rising” since 2021. The show is described as a weekday morning program with bipartisan hosts that “breaks the mold of morning TV by taking viewers inside the halls of Washington power like never before.”
Iversen has repeatedly discussed COVID-19 vaccines, government response to the virus and other topics related to the pandemic. She alleges in a video posted July 29 that when she joined the show she refused to be censored and would maintain independence.
Up until the interview, that had been the case. While certain topics made her colleagues and cohosts uncomfortable, executives and producers never forced her to change her tone or censor herself.
However, on the evening of July 24, Iversen claims she was told that Fauci’s team had asked who would be conducting the interview and that they singled her out asking that she not be allowed to participate.
Iversen told the producers to return to Fauci’s team and tell them she had to be included. If the interview was canceled as a result, the outlet could run a segment on the development instead.
The next morning, Iversen received a call from the show’s executive producer.
“They had made the final decision not to approach Fauci’s team but to instead move forward with the interview without me. They wanted me to come on the show, record a couple of segments and then ask me to leave so they could interview Fauci,” Iversen said.
During the actual interview, Fauci falsely said that he never recommended lockdowns over COVID-19.
Iversen felt that she could no longer remain with the outlet as a result, due to her promises that she had made to viewers.
“How could I say ‘it’s corporate media, but trust me?’” Iversen said. “That would make me a liar, and that would put my reputation at risk because I made promises to the viewers. And so, because of all of this, I am no longer with ‘Rising.’”
The Hill referred comment to parent company Nexstar Media Group, which did not respond to an inquiry.
Iversen plans to largely continue her work, with videos appearing on social media websites directly from her, rather than through The Hill.
“I hope you join me,” she said.
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