Cable news ratings; CNN hires gun expert Gutowski; Rubin mocks Stacey Abrams' weight

CNN announced that firearms reporter Stephen Gutowski will join the network as a contributor on Wednesday, garnering ample praise from both sides of the aisle.

In a release Wednesday, the network announced a new journalism unit titled “Guns in America," which CNN describes as dedicated to “tracking and unpacking all aspects of the complex and divisive issues surrounding guns and gun violence in the country.”
"I’m excited about the opportunity to work with many solid reporters and reach a new audience. I’ve long criticized how major media outlets have reported on firearms," Gutowski said in a statement.
"A severe lack of knowledge about guns, gun owners, gun laws, and even gun politics is endemic throughout the industry."

Gutowski is regarded as a credible voice on guns, prompting a variety of pundits from all sides to laud the news on Twitter.
"Very smart hire," Maggie Haberman wrote on Twitter, while conservative commentator Katie Pavlich called it "great news."
Seth Mandel similarly called the hire the "smartest hire I can remember CNN making in my professional lifetime."
In his statement, Gutowski also called for CNN viewers to ensure he "fairly and accurately" describes gun policy and politics debates while on the network, adding, "And please hold me to that expectation."
Props to Gutowski on the new gig, as well as the biparitan support -- an increasingly tough feat.

Commentator Dave Rubin took a particularly ugly jab at Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Tuesday.

While discussing the upcoming midterm elections on The Rubin Report, Rubin mocked the Abrams' weight as the "only thing she is known for."

“Here is Stacey Abrams,” Rubin said before airing a video of the Georgia Democrat hitting at her opponent, Republican Governor Brian Kemp. “Stacey Abrams, who of course, has no resume."
Rubin's claim is, of course, ridiculous.
Abrams, who was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007-2011, was the first woman to lead either party in the Georgia General Assembly as well as the first Black person to lead in the House of Representatives. On top of her political accomplishments, Abrams attended Yale University Law School and worked as an attorney at an Atlanta law firm.
As if erasing Abrams' accomplishments was not enough, Rubin went on to make fun of the candidate's weight.
"This is a woman who the only thing she is known for, besides for setting a record at the Golden Corral Buffet is" -- Rubin said before chuckling slightly at his own remark -- "is that she ran for governor last time, and then when she lost, she said that it was an illegitimate election."
Regardless of your political views or your thoughts on a particular candidate, mocking their weight is never it.