White House Posts Unusual Tony Dokoupil ‘CBS Evening News’ Segment Saluting Marco Rubio For His Many Jobs In Trump Administration
The fears that CBS Evening News will go softer on Donald Trump were fueled even further with a segment that ended the Tony Dokoupil broadcast on Tuesday in which the anchor saluted Marco Rubio, who wears multiple hats in the administration.
The White House picked up the segment and posted it to its social media media account, with the line, “WE LOVE @SecRubio!”
The segment finished the broadcast, which Dokoupil anchored from Doral, in Rubio’s home state of Florida. The new CBS Evening News anchor has been dubbing the final minute of the broadcast with an “Only in America” feature that attempts to take a lighthearted look at the news.
In Tuesday’s segment, Dokoupil noted that Rubio was serving as the administration’s “point man” on Venezuela, in addition to national security adviser and secretary of state, as well as acting national archivist and USAID chief. Dokoupil then showed AI memes of Rubio in other roles, such as the new governor of Minnesota, shah of Iran, prime minister of Greenland, new manager of Manchester United, the head of Hilton Hotels and the new Michelin Man.
“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.”
A CBS News spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The scrutiny of Dokoupil is due to the way that the merger of Skydance with CBS-parent Paramount went down last year. As they sought administration approval for the transaction, the previous owners of Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit over the way that 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris, even though CBS attorneys had deemed the litigation baseless. Then, Skydance committed to hiring an ombudsman to take complaints about the news division, days before the FCC gave the merger the greenlight. The person chosen as ombudsman, Kenneth Weinstein, formerly led a right-leaning think tank.
Paramount CEO David Ellison then hired Bari Weiss, who founded the center right opinion site The Free Press, to run CBS News as editor in chief, even though she has a lack of broadcast TV experience.
Dokoupil is in the midst of a “Live from America” cross country tour following his official debut in the anchor chair on Monday, in which he broadcast from the network’s studios in New York.
