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As admirable as it is to pretend that if we just ignore George Zimmerman and his pathetic attempts at turning the infamy he gained from killing Trayvon Martin into full-fledged celebrity, I am neither that naive nor optimistic. Sure, I support anyone who refuses to utter his name ever again. Hell, I applaud you and agree that the less we hear the name George Zimmerman, the better off we all are.

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Still, he’ll remain a headline not because of who he is, but because our click-bait culture makes it impossible for anyone of note to go into obscurity. This is especially true if the person with notoriety is a smug, shameless pariah pressed to extend his relevance. This is a testament to the much touted “democratization of celebrity.”  I feel dirty even talking about him, but I’m not convinced that if I opted not to, someone else would’ve have stepped up to do so in this space.

Almost anyone can lay claim to the title now, and with so much of our culture so fixated on celebrity, even a jackass like George Zimmerman can enjoy headlines for the rest of his life. Even so, while George Zimmerman may be the cockroach of the news cycle, that doesn’t mean every media outlet should make him a headliner — especially if we are to hold them to the higher standards that often asked to be viewed upon.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo will speak to Zimmerman on the network’s morning show “New Day.” The main part of the interview will air Monday, February 17, and while I won’t be watching, I’m mortified by the excerpt the network has leaked.

In the preview clip, Cuomo asks, “Are you a killer?” Zimmerman replies with “I have killed.” Zimmerman also acknowledged that he is not haunted by the death of Trayvon Martin at his hands. So we’ve noticed.

The fact that Zimmerman is participating in celebrity boxing matches gave us that indication already, but the fact that he can coldly confirm that he is not at all bothered by killing a child is good enough for reason for CNN to conclude that maybe they can find some other superficial persona to exploit for ratings.

Under Jeff Zucker, CNN seems all about trying to secure some of the old White male viewers who currently keep FOX News ratings sky high by comparison.  This, as opposed to trying to win over younger viewers who will still be here after the racists FOX News panders to die off and go to hell or something. It’s short-sighted desperate act to boost the networks declining relevancy, but damn CNN, must you sink this low?

On the interview, Cuomo asserts, “It’s important to hear from the man at the center of it.” Is it really? What else can Zimmerman say at this point? We know who this man is: A killer with no conscious obsessed with his own notoriety. 

Cuomo goes on to say, “It was provocative. He gave us a lot of time. He wanted to deal with everything.”

Of course he does. George Zimmerman is a fame hungry, teenage killing narcissist. Why is Cuomo acting as if Zimmerman wanting to talk is surprising? Not shockingly, Zimmerman has given an interview to Univision and Fusion. So in essence, there’s nothing remotely special about CNN’s interview as it’s not an exclusive and it’s not revealing anything we didn’t already know about him.

George Zimmerman is a child killer turned aspiring media circus clown. Such is that killer’s life since a Florida jury foolishly let him off the hook. Even so, of all the places to feature Zimmerman, CNN should no longer be one of them. They are dead wrong and deserve whatever continued ratings decline their desperate antics have spurred.

Michael Arceneaux is from the land of Beyoncé, but now lives in the city of Master Splinters. Follow him at @youngsinick.

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