Biden Decision Surprised Most TV News Networks: How CBS, MSNBC and More Scrambled to Cover Bombshell

Many of them knew it was coming, but not exactly when.

The nation’s big TV-news outlets appear to have been caught flat-footed by President Joe Biden’s Sunday announcement that he would end his 2024 campaign for the White House, with many top anchors not visible on screen in the minutes after the president dropped his bombshell.

On CNN, viewers watched as Alex Marquardt, the network’s chief national security correspondent, anchored coverage, but Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper — three anchors who often handle duties in moments of national import — were not on screen. At Fox News, Bret Baier, who typically co-anchors coverage of top political news with Martha MacCallum, called in to the newsroom. MSNBC dumped out of Jen Psaki leading one of the network’s opinion-led hours in favor of Katy Tur, who regularly leads an hour of news coverage on weekdays.

The broadcast networks also fielded less familiar faces. CBS News broke into programming at 2:02 p.m. with coverage lead by Kristine Johnson, an anchor at WCBS, the company’s New York station, suggesting Norah O’Donnell, Margaret Brennan or Major Garrett were not immediately available (O’Donnell and Brennan joined about 45 minutes later). NBC News put up a special report 30 seconds later anchored by Hallie Jackson, who was recently named to lead weekend broadcasts of “NBC Nightly News.” ABC News broke in at 2:04 p.m. with coverage led by Rachel Scott, its senior congressional correspondent.

More to come…