Posted in: CBS, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: cbs evening news

Will Marco Rubio Love Lead to CBS Evening News, Trump Becoming BFFs?

CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil had an "interesting" past few days, but his Marco Rubio moment on Tuesday was too much cringe to ignore.

Over the weekend, CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil found himself starting his tenure earlier than expected after the Trump Administration announced that the U.S. had arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and that the U.S. would be in the business of running another country and stealing its oil. It wasn't perfect, but there were some glimmers of hope, as we discussed on Saturday. We've had two days to see Dokoupil in action as he conducts his "anchor tour," and the best thing I can say is that no one can say we weren't willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

To say that Tuesday night's broadcast was more like a cross between an infomercial and a local station's morning show would be kind. For example, Dokoupil and his folks took a "both sides" approach when covering the fifth anniversary of January 6th, when a bunch of Trump-pardoned traitors stormed the halls of Congress because they were butt-hurt that Trump lost the election, so they attempted to take a steaming dump on Democracy. "President Trump today accused Democrats of failing to prevent the attack on the Capitol, while House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries accused the president of quote, whitewashing it," Dokoupil reported at one point. What CBS Evening News' newest face didn't report was that Trump's lackeys posted a website that offers a right-wing, alternate-reality take on what really went down (but he did show footage of the pro-pardons protestors). But that was far from the most glaring red flag…

Let's put aside the crying moment when he felt moved about being back in Miami, even though that was weird and way too self-serving for the news anchor of a national broadcast on what was only his second official night on the air. Because it was the weird shout-out to Marco Rubio during his "Only in America" segment that brought a whole lot of cringe. Utilizing AI-generated images from social media to make his point that Rubio has a lot of titles on his resume since signing up with Trump, Dokoupil attempted to offer a light-hearted look at the man who may just be one of the people running a country that we have essentially taken over. "For Rubio's hometown fans, which are many around here in Miami, it is a sign of how Florida, once an American punchline, has become a leader on the world stage," Dokoupil said. "Marco Rubio, we salute you, you are the ultimate Florida man." Before you ask? No, Dokoupil didn't wink, smile, and throw out the "finger guns" for Rubio – but it felt like he wanted to. For its part, Trump's folks seemed to appreciate the love that Rubio received, posting the segment on social media with the caption, "WE LOVE @Rubio!"

On Sunday, ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos offered Dokoupil and CBS News head Bari Weiss a masterclass on why follow-up questions matter. Speaking with Rubio, ABC News' George Stephanopoulos addressed some of the questions surrounding the justification for the military strike on Venezuela. Specifically, how the Trump Administration could argue that it went after Maduro for drug trafficking when Trump recently pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced in 2024 to 45 years in prison for allegedly creating "a cocaine superhighway to the United States," according to prosecutors. You can check out the entire interview above, but the segment highlighted below finds Stephanopoulos following up and pushing back on Rubio as he noted that Maduro was indicted without adding that Hernández was actually convicted in a court of law:

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