If we were handing out medals to television news anchors for the 'Most Disgraceful Performance in a Presidential Election Campaign,' we'd be hard-pressed to say which of them would take home the gold.
CNN and MSNBC always send strong teams to the Faceplant Olympics. They're the China and the old Soviet Union of racking up Ls by the bushel. ABC News had some strong contenders after David Muir tried to rig a presidential debate, while George Stephanopoulos was so bad, he cost his network $15 million in a defamation settlement last year.
But a major contender for the podium of shame in 2024 had to be CBS Evening News anchor Norah O'Donnell. Among her lowlights was cutting off vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance's microphone as he was schooling her on illegal immigration during the VP debate and leading off her nightly news program in October by repeating slanderously false stories about Donald Trump insulting a Latino military servicemember.
After the election, CBS (which had one of the worst years imaginable for a news network) made a programming change to CBS Evening News, abandoning its decades-long format of having a single anchor in favor of something resembling local news broadcasts with a panel of hosts.
We're not sure why they think this adjustment will rescue them from their credibility hole but, regardless of the reasoning, the change meant that last night was the final broadcast of the program hosted by O'Donnell.
Accordingly, they spent much of the half-hour making the 'news' all about her, including a farewell video package that included Oprah Winfrey (because, of course). Watch:
After five years in the anchor chair, @NorahODonnell signs off from the CBS Evening News tonight. Her reporting has not only made history, but also resonated deeply with viewers across the nation. This isn’t goodbye — Norah will remain a vital part of the CBS News family as a… pic.twitter.com/bDi0xVYssA
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 24, 2025
Many people work at a job for five years. Most of them don't have paeans delivered to them from a billionaire when they leave. We're not sure why O'Donnell's five years made her more special than anyone else, especially given her track record.
Then, it was time for O'Donnell to deliver her farewell address which, thankfully, was relatively brief.
For the final time, @NorahODonnell signs off from the CBS Evening News. pic.twitter.com/4IU9Htj1sY
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 24, 2025
LOL. 'Journalism matters.' Then why didn't you practice it?
We particularly love the part where the crew had to come out at the end and pretend like they were going to miss her or that she even knew many of their names. That was some quality cringe right there.
On Twitter, however, people were also saying goodbye to O'Donnell ... but in a much more honest manner.
If you think the captain of the Titanic did a ‘great job’ then you also think she did a great job as an anchor https://t.co/DsBFqqB7VS
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) January 24, 2025
HA. Hey, other than a little ice, it was a tremendously successful trip.
Microphone cutter gets her own microphone cut. https://t.co/OVoF9RvopB
— Lucian (@lucianwords) January 24, 2025
That seems appropriate, doesn't it?
Good riddance. She’s trash. https://t.co/YrSlbhzuto
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 24, 2025
We're not sure which is funnier, the fact that O'Donnell was so bad that she necessitated a change in format for CBS Evening News for the first time since it began in 1963 or the delusion that she and her network thought anyone outside of fellow fake 'journalists' would miss her.
Only fitting that the 1st person to give a testimonial of Norah’s brand of “journalism” is Oprah, whose production co. received $1M from Kamala’s team to “interview” her.
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) January 24, 2025
It was an overt cheerleading session, just like Norah’s broadcasts in the last 100 days of the campaign. https://t.co/gq4RAcpxQP
Winfrey's brand was destroyed during the 2024 campaign almost as much as those of the dead legacy media networks. They deserve each other.
— 100 Proof 🥃 (@ChampionCapua) January 24, 2025
— Keith Long (@KeithLo51138885) January 24, 2025
LOL. We'd love to see a farewell Truth Social post from Trump today after O'Donnell defended Joe Biden calling him and all of his voters garbage.
Good riddance! How far CBS has fallen from the days of Walter Cronkite. pic.twitter.com/LOl09V3lUk
— GuessWho (@AmicaIncongnita) January 24, 2025
We wouldn't be surprised if Trump posted something just like that. Or if Vance tweeted out a picture of the famous 'J.D. Vance Face' from that VP debate.
St. Felicia, the patron saint of farewells, has entered the chat. https://t.co/egQA5hinPE
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) January 24, 2025
— Jeremy Knauff (@jeremyknauff) January 24, 2025
HAHAHAHAHA. She will be missed about as much as people miss going to the dentist for a root canal.
One user was kind enough to show a picture of all the people who wanted to wish O'Donnell a fond farewell.
— Matt Inman (@cowinthevatican) January 24, 2025
Whoops.
This GIF might have been a little more accurate.
— Larry Bowa (@bowalarry4) January 24, 2025
Wait, maybe it was this GIF that summarized how America feels about O'Donnell, CBS, and all of the legacy media.
— 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚖 𝚅🥀 (@malcolm_vela) January 24, 2025
There it is. That's the one.
The new format for CBS Evening News, without O'Donnell, could be an opportunity for the network to regain some credibility, but we're not counting on it.
Imagine if you tried hiring a journalist instead of an activist. People might watch you.
— Redacted (@Stapled_Lips) January 24, 2025
Yeah, that's not going to happen. Because they haven't learned anything.
Instead of just one anchor trying to gaslight the American public every night, CBS Evening News will now have three or four of them doing the exact same thing.
And viewers at home will continue to avoid the program in droves.
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