r/the_donald said this here.
Obviously, r/the_donald is biased and the claim was unsourced, but still, is there any truth in that claim that CNN was founded just so they could help Jimmy Carter win the 1980 Election? Probably not, but still, I don't know anything about CNN history so I can't verify this claim.
Thanks!
CNN had been in the works for at least six months when their first broadcast went out in June of 1980. Gallup polls from 1980 show Carter with a commanding lead at the end of 1979/beginning of 1980, and slim lead in June, which diminished, then turned into a Reagan lead until Carter pulled ahead in August, and Carter held that lead until just before the election.
The claim linked, that CNN was founded "in direct response to Reagan kicking Jimmy Carter's ass", just doesn't hold up to the polling data. Reagan wasn't leading when CNN first began broadcasting, though he had been gaining.
I'm not equipped to comment on Turner's personal motivations, but CNN was not founded in response to Reagan.
Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/110548/gallup-presidential-election-trialheat-trends-19362004.aspx#4
