More On: 60 minutes
Ghislaine Maxwell faked being Epstein’s girlfriend, former pal claims
CBS News cuts 75 staffers in ‘painful day’
Trump fumes over ‘60 Minutes’ whistleblower segment
‘60 Minutes’ correspondent Lesley Stahl says she fought coronavirus
President Trump blasted “CBS Evening News” host Norah O’Donnell as a “third place anchor” after she interviewed a coronavirus whistleblower for a “60 Minutes” segment that was critical of the White House. In a Twitter rant late Sunday, Trump said O’Donnell and “60 Minutes” were “doing everything in their power to demean our Country, much to …
President Trump blasted “CBS Evening News” host Norah O’Donnell as a “third place anchor” after she interviewed a coronavirus whistleblower for a “60 Minutes” segment that was critical of the White House.
In a Twitter rant late Sunday, Trump said O’Donnell and “60 Minutes” were “doing everything in their power to demean our Country, much to the benefit of the Radical Left Democrats.” Trump cryptically added that Shari Redstone, the media heiress who controls CBS parent ViacomCBS, “knows how to make things right.”
O’Donnell had interviewed Rick Bright, the former director of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Last month, Bright filed a whistleblower complaint claiming he was ousted for refusing to promote hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug that has been touted by Trump as a coronavirus treatment.
Trump, who had attacked Bright last week ahead of his congressional testimony, took to Twitter shortly after the show aired and fired off three tweets, blasting O’Donnell and Bright as a “fake whistleblower” and a “disgruntled employee who supports Dems, fabricates stories & spews lies.”
Bright also claimed that top brass at the Department of Health and Human Services ignored his warnings about the coronavirus and the urgent need to prepare for the pandemic.
“How can a creep like this show up to work tomorrow & report to @SecAzar , his boss, after trashing him on T.V.?….” Trump added. “This whole Whistleblower racket needs to be looked at very closely, it is causing great injustice & harm. I hope you are listening @SenSusanCollins I also hope that Shari Redstone will take a look at her poorly performing gang. She knows how to make things right!”
The president called on ViacomCBS owner Redstone, whom he met with last fall, to look at the ratings and take action. He pointed out the last-place ranking of O’Donnell’s nightly news show, “CBS Evening News,” although the broadcast has been showing healthy viewership gains in recent weeks with nearly 7 million viewers.
“60 Minutes,” where O’Donnell serves as a correspondent, continues to perform strongly, sitting in the top 20 with an average of 10.4 million viewers.
A spokesperson for CBS didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
