After years of dismissing the Hunter-centric scandals that plagued former President Joe Biden&#8217;s White House, CNN anchor Jake Tapper unloaded on Hunter Biden during a recent interview with longtime journalist Katie Couric.
Tapper spoke with Couric alongside Axios reporter Alex Thompson — with whom he wrote the new book, &#8220;Original Sin,&#8221; about the obvious physical and cognitive decline of the former president and the lengths to which those around him went to cover that up. But when the conversation turned to Hunter Biden, Tapper said that he&#8217;d found former President Joe Biden&#8217;s embattled son to be &#8220;unethical, sleazy, and prone to bad decisions.&#8221;
WATCH:
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🚨NEW: Jake Tapper GOES SCORCHED EARTH on Hunter Biden🚨
TAPPER: &#8220;I think he is provably, demonstrably, unethical, sleazy and prone to horrible decisions.&#8221;
COURIC: &#8220;Tell me how you really feel.&#8221;
TAPPER: &#8220;Just look at the record: after his brother died, he cheated on his wife… <a href="https://t.co/MF6d02j5t1">pic.twitter.com/MF6d02j5t1</a>
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/1924912836146561130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;How big a factor was the Hunter stuff?&#8221; Couric asked, referencing the now-infamous laptop, which the Biden White House and dozens of former intelligence community officials had repeatedly tried to pass off as &#8220;Russian disinformation.&#8221;
&#8220;I think it was considerable,&#8221; Tapper began as Thompson nodded in agreement. &#8220;I think Hunter was driving the decision-making for the family in a way that people — he was almost like a chief of staff of the family.&#8221;
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&#8220;Does that strike you as pretty bizarre?&#8221; Couric pressed.
Tapper agreed: &#8220;It&#8217;s bizarre because I think he is provably, demonstrably, unethical, sleazy and prone to horrible decisions, I mean —&#8221;
&#8220;Tell me how you really feel,&#8221; Couric interjected.
&#8220;Well, I — Just look at the record: after his brother died, he cheated on his wife with his brother’s widow and then got her addicted to crack,&#8221; Tapper continued. &#8220;That&#8217;s just one thing I could say. I mean, there — I don&#8217;t have a lot of personal regard for him, and just based on — having nothing to do with — I barely have ever met him, I&#8217;ve met him once or twice. But I knew Beau. Beau was a great, upstanding guy.&#8221;
&#8220;I knew him too,&#8221; Couric said. &#8220;A really —&#8221;
&#8220;A real loss,&#8221; Tapper said. &#8220;For the country too, not just for his family, for the country. But Hunter is not that, and the idea of letting him drive the family car, as it were, is just really, really questionable.&#8221;
Nearly five years earlier, however — as Joe Biden neared the finish line of the 2020 presidential election and shortly after the New York Post had dropped the bombshell that was the Hunter Biden laptop story — Tapper had dismissed the allegations against Hunter Biden as &#8220;wildly unhinged&#8221; and &#8220;too disgusting&#8221; for him to repeat on air.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨FLASHBACK🚨
On Oct. 22, 2020, CNN&#8217;s Jake Tapper declared that the growing allegations made against Hunter Biden following the NY Post&#8217;s reporting on Hunter&#8217;s laptop were &#8220;too disgusting&#8221; to repeat on-air and &#8220;wildly unhinged.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/djhFlDK8kz">pic.twitter.com/djhFlDK8kz</a>
— Francis Brennan (@FrancisBrennan) <a href="https://twitter.com/FrancisBrennan/status/1805334046513184799?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2024</a></blockquote>
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TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-BIDEN-ARRIVAL

Jake Tapper Unloads On ‘Sleazy’ Hunter Biden After Dismissing Scandals During Biden Admin

Jake Tapper Has No Kind Words For Hunter Biden: 'Unethical, Sleazy, And Prone To Horrible Decisions'

Hunter Biden

Jake Tapper

Joe Biden

Katie Couric

Media

Politics

Popular broadcast news journalist <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/katie-couric">Katie Couric</a> weighed in on the Capitol Hill bathroom controversy, stating that she found it “sh***y” that members of Congress are expected to use the bathroom that matches their biological sex.
Her statements come on the heels of Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nancy-mace">Nancy Mace</a> (R-SC) introducing legislation that would require “members, officers, and employees of the House” to use bathrooms according to sex. 
The bill was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mace-on-trans-bathroom-ban-as-a-rape-survivor-i-know-how-vulnerable-women-are-in-private-spaces">introduced</a> this week as Democrats are preparing for their new member, Sarah McBride from Delaware, to become the first member of Congress to identify as transgender.
A reporter asked Mace, “Is this effort in response to Congresswoman McBride coming to Congress?”
“Yes and absolutely, and then some,” Mace replied. “I’m not going to stand for a man, you know, when someone with a penis is in the women’s locker room, that’s not okay.”
Couric, meanwhile, took issue with Mace&#8217;s tone. 
“Hey everyone, I&#8217;m just so disappointed that this Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, is being so rude, and I don&#8217;t know, just bigoted against Sarah McBride, who is a new congressperson from the state of Delaware,” the 67-year-old TV personality said in a video <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@katiecouric/video/7439545297161751850?lang=en">posted</a> on TikTok Thursday.
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“I know Sarah. She is the first openly transgender member of Congress, and she&#8217;s an extraordinary human being, has done a great job representing the people of Delaware and is now going to be doing it in Washington, and it just seems nasty and mean, and cruel because she is the only member who is now forbidden to use the ladies&#8217; room and it&#8217;s just sh***y, you know. Anyway, I just wanted to say that.”
Couric isn’t the only one upset over the bill. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was fuming over the idea of people sticking to the bathroom that matched their sex, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aoc-keeping-men-out-of-womens-bathrooms-is-endangering-women">saying</a>, “It’s disgusting. And everybody, no matter how you feel on this issue, should reject it completely.” 
“They’re doing this so that Nancy Mace can make a buck and send a text and fundraise off an email. They’re not doing this to protect people. They’re endangering women,” she continued. “They’re endangering girls of all kinds. And everybody should reject it. It’s gross.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) supported the move, noting that “each Member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.”
McBride also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trans-identifying-congressman-agrees-not-to-use-female-bathrooms-after-johnson-brings-the-hammer-down">weighed in</a>, saying, “I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families. Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson even if I disagree with them. This effort to distract from the real issues facing this country hasn’t distracted me over the last several days, as I’ve remained hard at work preparing to represent the greatest state in the union come January.”

Katie Couric Says It’s ‘Sh***y’ That Trans-Identifying Male Congress Member Can’t Use Ladies’ Room

Katie Couric Says It's 'Sh**y' That Trans-Identifying Male Congress Member Can't Use Ladies' Room

Bathrooms

Capitol Hill

Celebrities

Nancy Mace

Transgender

Longtime news anchor Katie Couric admitted to former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki that while she had liked Vice President Kamala Harris, she had been frustrated by her apparent inability to answer questions on the campaign trail.
Couric and Psaki delivered a post-mortem of the 2024 presidential election — which saw Harris trounced by now President-elect Donald Trump in both the Electoral College and the popular vote — for Couric&#8217;s &#8220;Next Question&#8221; podcast. During their conversation, both women voiced frustration that Harris had failed to meet the voters where they were and answer the questions they wanted to have answered.
WATCH:
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WATCH: Katie Couric admits Kamala was an awful candidate 
“Answer the G**damn question, please.”<a href="https://t.co/MtvCNzrKcS">pic.twitter.com/MtvCNzrKcS</a>
&mdash; Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1858645056162336852?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Psaki pointed out the fact that Harris simply hadn&#8217;t done what was necessary to reach voters — particularly those inclined to disagree with her — when she had limited herself to only a few interviews, all with relatively friendly outlets or media personalities.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
&#8220;And that means doing all of the things, including with people you disagree with, who are gonna be tough,&#8221; Psaki explained, saying that candidates had to be &#8220;fearless&#8221; and giving Harris credit for doing the interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier.
Couric couched her criticism by first saying that she felt Harris had handled some things very well, but then she pointed out Harris&#8217; tendency to evade questions even when she did sit for interviews. She noted that people weren&#8217;t likely to be convinced when Harris didn&#8217;t give satisfactory answers.
&#8220;Like, if she was asked about changing the Supreme Court at that CNN town hall – she had an opportunity to talk about ethics and what, you know, Alito and Clarence Thomas were doing. And, she answered like in one sentence and like went on to something that had nothing to do with the question,&#8221; Couric noted, adding, &#8220;It’s like, answer the G**d*** question please!&#8221;
&#8220;I mean &#8230; yeah,&#8221; Psaki agreed, laughing.

iMentor 25th Anniversary Champions Dinner

‘Answer The G**d*** Question!’: Katie Couric Takes Kamala Apart In 2024 Post-Mortem With Jen Psaki

'Answer The G**D*** Question!': Katie Couric Takes Kamala Apart In 2024 Post-Mortem With Jen Psaki

2024 Election

Jen Psaki

Kamala Harris

Veteran news anchor Katie Couric outed former colleague Bryant Gumbel as &#8220;incredibly sexist,&#8221; claiming that he suggested she should deliver her baby &#8220;in a field&#8221; and come straight back to the show rather than taking some time off for maternity leave.
Couric made the comments during her recent appearance on comedian Bill Maher&#8217;s &#8220;Club Random&#8221; podcast, where she also said that Gumbel&#8217;s attitude was similar to that of many of her male colleagues and the overall culture at NBC at the time.
WATCH:
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Katie Couric on Club Random with Bill Maher revealed a couple of interesting facts about her time working on the &#39;Today Show&#39; with Bryant Gumbel and Matt Lauer: Couric: &quot;He [Gumbel] got mad at me because I was doing something on maternity leave, and he was giving endless shit for… <a href="https://t.co/9KjrtZSbGY">pic.twitter.com/9KjrtZSbGY</a>
&mdash; Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricAbbenante/status/1779610209029062826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;He was prickly, but, what a talent. He’s such a seamless broadcaster, eloquent. I mean, when that countdown would happen — five, four, three, two, one — he would just hit it perfect,&#8221; Couric said of Gumbel.
And while she did have a number of nice things to say about him — she called him a &#8220;natty dresser&#8221; and noted that he was intelligent and &#8220;really talented&#8221; — her overall assessment was that he was &#8220;complicated.&#8221;
She went on to say that things kind of came to a head when she planned to take maternity leave when her first child was born.
&#8220;And he was giving me endless s*** for taking like a month or two off. I was having my first baby,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He was like, ‘Why don’t you just drop it in the field and come back to work right away or something?'&#8221;
Maher, who is friends with Gumbel, pressed Couric on that point and said that it sounded like he probably meant that last remark as a joke — and while Couric conceded that he&#8217;d been &#8220;kidding,&#8221; she said that wasn&#8217;t the only thing he had said on the matter.
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&#8220;He was goofing on me but giving me a lot of s***. But it was emblematic of sort of an incredibly sexist attitude,&#8221; she continued.
&#8220;It was a very different environment,&#8221; she said of NBC at the time.
Maher noted that there was an &#8220;old boys club&#8221; feel to the interoffice politics at major networks at the time, adding, &#8220;And women had to put up with more. They just did. I mean, you know, not to get all fuzzy and Lifetime Channel about it, but people like you and Barbara Walters or just like women comedians of a certain age, you have to really tip your hat to them because it was harder.&#8221;

TODAY – Season 73

Katie Couric: ‘Incredibly Sexist’ Bryant Gumbel Told Her To Give Birth ‘In A Field’ And Come Back To Work

Katie Couric: 'Incredibly Sexist' Bryant Gumbel Told Her To Give Birth 'In A Field' And Come Back To Work

Bill Maher

Sexism

U.S.

Veteran news anchor Katie Couric balked at comedian Bill Maher&#8217;s assessment of former President Donald Trump&#8217;s town hall on CNN — specifically the claim that Trump was &#8220;killing it&#8221; — complaining, &#8220;He&#8217;s not a stand-up comedian.&#8221;
Couric and Maher clashed over the Trump town hall — and Maher&#8217;s assessment of the media&#8217;s failures when it came to covering Trump and his supporters — during a recent episode of Maher&#8217;s &#8220;Club Random&#8221; podcast.
WATCH:
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Bill Maher telling Katie Couric why he is bored with the &#39;negative view&#39; on Trump, and why he wants to represent the Trump voter&#39;s viewpoint as well: &quot;Not to defend Trump, but to defend the people who still vote for him. Because what they see on the other side, to them is even… <a href="https://t.co/l24hPXicCo">pic.twitter.com/l24hPXicCo</a>
&mdash; Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricAbbenante/status/1779601520717189173?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Maher brought up the CNN town hall — which was supposed to have an audience made up of both Trump voters and independents — and noted that the audience had been very receptive.
&#8220;The audience loved it. The audience loved it,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;It was stacked with Trump supporters,&#8221; Couric complained.
Maher pointed out the fact that it was supposed to be an audience of Republicans and independents – and said that if CNN had failed to properly vet them, that was their issue to handle.
&#8220;Here’s what people saw in America. They saw Trump killing it. Killing it with the crowd! Then you cut to a panel of six people who all just do nothing but dump on him and call him a liar and America goes, &#8216;Oh, didn’t you just see that we like him?&#8217; And now —&#8221; Maher continued.
&#8220;He’s not a standup comedian!&#8221; Couric protested.
&#8220;What?&#8221; Maher asked.
&#8220;&#8216;He’s killing it.&#8217; He’s not a standup comedian,&#8221; Couric said.
&#8220;No, but popularity. Doesn’t matter. The people loved him and what he was saying,&#8221; Maher pushed back. &#8220;And then you cut to a panel of six know-it-alls in Washington who just do nothing but talk about the neg — and I&#8217;m all in on the negative, no one&#8217;s been harder on Trump than me, but I get it and I’m bored with it, and there’s a different way to do this, I think.&#8221;
&#8220;Not to defend Trump, but to defend the people who still vote for him. Because what they see on the other side, to them is even more dangerous. Because it&#8217;s very — closer to home: My kid is coming home from school and he thinks he&#8217;s a racist? He&#8217;s five, what have you been telling him? My son thinks maybe he&#8217;s not a boy and maybe that&#8217;s true, that happens. Those kind of things are what they say &#8216;That&#8217;s why I&#8217;m voting for Trump&#8217;,&#8221; Maher explained.
&#8220;A backlash to the pendulum swinging so far to the Left,&#8221; Couric said.
Maher concluded by saying that there were some Trump voters who loved him and some who didn&#8217;t but still voted for him because they believed he was the only thing standing between them and &#8220;madness&#8221; — and he argued that their position should at least be presented in media coverage.

2024 SXSW Conference And Festival – Day 1

Kate Couric Balks At Bill Maher’s Recap Of Trump ‘Killing It’ On CNN Town Hall: ‘The Audience Loved It’

Kate Couric Balks At Bill Maher's Recap Of Trump 'Killing It' On CNN Town Hall: 'The Audience Loved It'

Donald Trump

Katie Couric defended her decision to selectively edit an interview with the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in an appearance on the Today show Tuesday, noting that the media make editorial decisions on how to present a subject &#8220;all the time.&#8221;
Couric admitted, in her new book, that she selectively edited a 2016 interview with Ginsburg because, in it, Ginsburg was critical of football players like Colin Kaepernick who, at the time, were &#8220;taking a knee&#8221; in protest of racism and police brutality. Ginsburg did not approve of the protests and suggested that they showed a lack of appreciation for all America has to offer.
The gesture, Ginsburg said, showed &#8220;contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life.&#8221;
&#8220;According to Couric, she ‘wanted to protect’ Ginsburg and felt that the issue of racial justice was a ‘blind spot’ for her,&#8221; The <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10088027/Katie-Couric-admits-editing-Ruth-Bader-Ginsburg-interview-protect-late-justice.html">Daily Mail noted in their report</a>.
More likely, Couric was looking to protect Ginsburg from any potential fallout from leftist allies who were unlikely to share Ginsburg&#8217;s view of the Kaepernick-led protests.
&#8220;Couric felt that when Ginsburg said that people like Kaepernick were &#8216;dumb and disrespectful&#8217; they were comments that were &#8216;unworthy of a crusader for equality&#8217; like the liberal Supreme Court justice,&#8221; the outlet noted. &#8220;The day after the sit-down, the head of public affairs for the Supreme Court emailed Couric to say the late justice had &#8216;misspoken&#8217; and asked that it be removed from the story. Couric writes that she was &#8216;conflicted&#8217; because she was a &#8216;big RBG fan&#8217;, referring to Ginsburg&#8217;s moniker.&#8221;
Ultimately, Couric says she contacted fellow journalist David Brooks, who suggested that Ginsburg &#8220;probably didn&#8217;t understand the question.&#8221; She later edited down the interview to include some comments about Kaepernick and his fellow protesters but left out the comments Couric felt were &#8220;unworthy&#8221; of Ginsburg&#8217;s status.
In an interview with Today, host Savannah Guthrie pressed Couric on editing the interview, suggesting that Couric&#8217;s decision violated ethical standards.
&#8220;Ultimately, I think I should’ve included it, but I also think it’s really important to look at what I did include,&#8221; Couric said of the interview.
&#8220;How did you justify that? It violates a cardinal rule of journalism to do that,&#8221; Guthrie noted.
&#8220;Well, I think what people don’t realize is we make editorial decisions like that all the time,&#8221; Couric shot back.
&#8220;And I chose to talk about this and put it in the book for a discussion. I mention that it was a conundrum, that I asked Justice Ginsburg about Colin Kaepernick and taking the knee and how she felt about that,&#8221; she added. &#8220;And I did include the fact that she said it was dumb and disrespectful, it was stupid and arrogant, and quite a bit of what she said.&#8221;
She did not, however, include Ginsburg&#8217;s comments defending the national anthem, which change the character of Ginsburg&#8217;s earlier, more muted commentary.

“Turning Tables: Cooking, Serving, and Surviving In A Global Pandemic” – 2021 Tribeca Festival

Katie Couric Defends Editing Ruth Bader Ginsburg Comments Critical Of Colin Kaepernick: Media ‘Make Decisions Like That All The Time’

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

In her new book, Katie Couric admits she edited a 2016 interview with Ruth Bader Ginsburg to suppress the Supreme Court Justice’s feelings about people who kneel in protest during the national anthem.
The former Today Show anchor reveals in her memoir “Going There,” which releases October 26, that Ginsburg told her athletes who kneel during the national anthem are showing &#8220;contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life.&#8221;
Couric writes that she removed the comments from the interview, published at <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/ruth-bader-ginsburg-on-trump-kaepernick-and-her-lifelong-love-of-the-law-132236633.html">Yahoo</a> five years ago, because she feared the then-83-year-old justice was “elderly” and “probably didn&#8217;t fully understand the question.”
According to the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10088027/Katie-Couric-admits-editing-Ruth-Bader-Ginsburg-interview-protect-late-justice.html">Daily Mail</a>, which first broke the story, Couric said her intention was to “protect” Ginsburg because she believed the issue of racial justice was a &#8216;blind spot&#8217; for her. Couric did, however, include Ginsburg’s statement the anthem protests “dumb and disrespectful.”
This isn’t the first time Couric has been caught in a controversy over her editing choices. The same year she buried Ginsburg’s comments on kneeling, she also deceptively edited a documentary on gun control.
As <a href="https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/katie-couric-under-the-gun-apology-misleading-epix-1201785392/">Variety</a> reported at the time, her team edited footage of the film “Under the Gun” to make it seem as if Second Amendment advocates were stumped by a question on background checks when, in fact, they answered her questions immediately.
Couric later apologized for the deceptive editing, saying that as the executive producer, she was ultimately responsible:
<blockquote>“As executive producer of ‘Under the Gun,’ a documentary film that explores the epidemic of gun violence, I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL). My question to the VCDL regarding the ability of convicted felons and those on the terror watch list to legally obtain a gun, was followed by an extended pause, making the participants appear to be speechless.”
“When I screened an early version of the film with the director, Stephanie Soechtig, I questioned her and the editor about the pause and was told that a ‘beat’ was added for, as she described it, ‘dramatic effect,’ to give the audience a moment to consider the question. When VCDL members recently pointed out that they had in fact immediately answered this question, I went back and reviewed it and agree that those eight seconds do not accurately represent their response….I regret that those eight seconds were misleading and that I did not raise my initial concerns more vigorously.”</blockquote>
Couric did not apologize for her decision to edit RGB in the gushy tell-all which also takes aim at her Today Show replacement Deborah Norville for being a perfectionist and Prince Harry for smelling of “cigarettes and alcohol.”

The 2020 MAKERS Conference – Day Two

Katie Couric Admits She Edited Ruth Bader Ginsburg Interview To Hide Justice’s Negative Opinion Of National Anthem Kneelers

Colin Kaepernick

National Anthem

After the release of former Today Show co-host Katie Couric’s new book, “Going There,” in which she trashes people left and right, and the report that Couric had tried to humiliate her colleague Ashleigh Banfield at the 2000 Olympics, Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean blasted her on Twitter, writing, “I take it back. I was going to give her a chance, but @katiecouric is a mean girl. We talk about terrible men in this industry but we need to shine a light on the females who tear down women too. They should be shamed. No one should buy her book.”
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I take it back. ⁦I was going to give her a chance, but <a href="https://twitter.com/katiecouric?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@katiecouric</a>⁩ is a mean girl. We talk about terrible men in this industry, but we need to shine a light on the females who tear down women too. They should be shamed. No one should buy her book. <a href="https://t.co/GNTrL9ggc2">https://t.co/GNTrL9ggc2</a>
&mdash; Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) <a href="https://twitter.com/JaniceDean/status/1445652975624413189?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Couric humiliated Banfield when she made her wait outside while Couric finished up an interview, continued to leave Banfield cooling her heels while Couric&#8217;s then nine-year-old daughter interviewed a guest for her school paper, and then mocked Banfield after she was scolded for asking an &#8216;off-limits&#8217; question during an interview with Olympic Gold medalist Michael Johnson,” the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10058345/How-Katie-Couric-humiliated-Ashleigh-Banfield-2000-Sydney-Olympics.html">Daily Mail</a> reported, adding, “The producer reportedly told Banfield to &#8216;sit outside the studio door on this chair.&#8217; The chair belonged to the show&#8217;s security guard who looked on mortified. The producer then looked at the production assistant and said, &#8216;It&#8217;s ok, you can come in, but she has to sit outside,&#8217; referring to Banfield.”
Couric reportedly elicited laughter by saying, “I hope it wasn&#8217;t too mean having her kicked out of here.”
After Banfield asked Johnson about drug use by athletes at the Olympics, triggering his anger, Couric reportedly said to those around her, “What is she doing? Who does she think she is? This is so embarrassing for me and for the TODAY Show.”
A reported NBC insider told the Daily Mail:
<blockquote>Here was America&#8217;s so called sweetheart, showing she was no supporter of her colleague or another woman and she openly took joy in the fact that she&#8217;d at first blocked Ashleigh from being on set, then had her child do this pathetic school project interview with Michael and then she relished in Michael&#8217;s response when he stopped the interview at the point Ashleigh asked the most important question.
Ashleigh Banfield was the only journalist in the room that day. While Katie Couric sold her fake perky dark soul for access to Michael Johnson, Ashleigh attempted to ask the question that was pertinent to what was happening at the Sydney Olympics. And she was vindicated years later when Johnson handed back one of the gold medals he won in Sydney for the 4x400m relay because his team mate had in fact used performance enhancing drugs behind his back.</blockquote>
In her book, Couric notes that she was cognizant “someone younger and cuter was always around the corner … For a minute there, Ashleigh Banfield was the next big thing; I&#8217;d heard her father was telling anyone who&#8217;d listen that she was going to replace me. In that environment, mentorship sometimes felt like self-sabotage.”
Piers Morgan <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10057599/PIERS-MORGAN-Katie-Courics-women-trashing-book-reveals-hypocrisy.html">reacted</a> to Couric’s new book by stating, “She reveals herself to be a nasty piece of work who chews up female colleagues and competitors like a hungry hippo gorging on watermelon.”
The Daily Wire <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/katie-courics-pro-gun-control-documentary-unfairly-aaron-bandler/">reported</a> in 2016:
<blockquote>A pro-gun control documentary produced and narrated by Katie Couric edited an interview with a gun rights organization in an attempt to portray them in an unfair light.
The documentary, Under the Gun, focuses on victims of gun violence as well as families of those who lost loved ones to gun violence that lobby for further gun control. In the scene that has come under scrutiny, Couric is interviewing members of the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League. In the clip, Couric asks: &#8220;If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?&#8221; She is met with stunned silence from the organization, as they look sullen with a lack of eye contact, seemingly embarrassed that their argument had been defeated.</blockquote>
But the <a href="http://freebeacon.com/issues/audio-shows-katie-couric-gun-documentary-deceptively-edited-interview-pro-gun-activists/?platform=hootsuite">Washington Free Beacon</a> reported, “However, raw audio of the interview between Katie Couric and the activists provided to the Washington Free Beacon shows the scene was deceptively edited. Instead of silence, Couric’s question is met immediately with answers from the activists. A back and forth between a number of the league’s members and Couric over the issue of background checks proceeds for more than four minutes after the original question is asked.”
A previous version of this article misspelled the name of Couric&#8217;s colleague. She is Ashleigh Banfield, not Ashley Banfield.

dean couric

Janice Dean Blasts Katie Couric: ‘Should Be Shamed. No One Should Buy Her Book’

Janice Dean

Speaking on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” former NBC anchor Katie Couric commented on Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results, asserting, &#8220;How are we going to really, almost deprogram these people who have signed up for the cult of Trump?&#8221;
Maher prompted Couric’s remarks by commenting on the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, saying: “As much as I’m worried about these loons who break into government, I’m actually more worried about the loons who did get elected, because, I mean, what do you do about these people? There’s 147 Republicans in Congress who still don’t concede that Trump lost the election. What do you do about people who are in the government who don’t believe in our way of government?”
Couric intimated that members of Congress might have colluded in the mob’s action on January 6, claiming, “It is so shocking, not only are they not conceding, Bill, but there’s thoughts that there might have been some collusion among members of Congress. Some are refusing to go through magnometers, or whatever you call them, to check for weapons; they’re not wearing masks during the siege. I mean, it’s really bizarre, isn’t it, when you think about how AWOL so many members of this Congress have gotten.”
“But I also think some of them are believing the garbage that they are being fed 24/7 on the internet, by their constituents, and they’ve bought into this big lie,” she continued. “And the question is: How are we going to really, almost deprogram these people who have signed up for the cult of Trump?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Katie Couric: &quot;How are we going to really, almost deprogram these people who have signed up for the cult of Trump?&quot; <a href="https://t.co/MW5LWN3dOk">pic.twitter.com/MW5LWN3dOk</a>
&mdash; Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimJGraham/status/1351141618557050880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Couric was heavily criticized in 2016 for her role as executive producer of an anti-gun documentary that used manipulated editing in its portrayal of gun rights activists. <a href="https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/katie-couric-under-the-gun-apology-misleading-epix-1201785392/">Variety</a> reported:
<blockquote>The documentary came under scrutiny when it first seemed like a group of gun rights activists were stumped by her question about background checks, taking eight seconds to respond: “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from walking into, say, a licensed gun dealer and purchasing a gun. Audio recordings revealed they, in fact, responded right away.</blockquote>
Kevin Williamson noted the documentary&#8217;s approach in <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/05/katie-couric-gun-rights/">National Review</a>:
<blockquote>Couric is under fire (you know, like Hillary Rodham Clinton in Bosnia) for her role in an anti-gun documentary … in which dishonest editing was used to make it look as though pro–Second Amendment activists were unable to answer elementary questions about a gun-rights controversy. This technique is known as “the Jon Stewart.” What you do is take a few seconds (or, in this case, a few minutes) of reaction shots (the footage they shoot of people’s faces while other people are talking) and then insert that non-talking footage after a question is asked: Voilà, the opposition is literally speechless.</blockquote>

Global Citizen Prize Awards Special Honoring Changemakers In 2020 Shaping The World We Want

‘How Are We Going To…Deprogram These People?’: Katie Couric On GOPers Who Wouldn’t Certify Election Results

2020 Election

Republican Party

NBC believes it&#8217;s doing a bang-up job hosting the Olympic Winter Games television broadcast, but in less than two days of coverage, its anchors have already insulted at least two countries.
First, an NBC &#8220;Asia correspondent&#8221; suggested that Korea was grateful for the presence of Japan&#8217;s Olympic delegation, after all Japan had given them (it turns out, the Japanese took more than 200,000 Korean women hostage before World War II to work as &#8220;comfort women&#8221; for Japanese men). Now,<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/winter-olympics-2018/2018/02/12/winter-olympics-dutch-mock-katie-couric-comments-speedskating-netherlands/328425002/"> Katie Couric has managed to insult The Netherlands</a> with her quaint, anachronistic (and kind of racist) explanation of the Dutch commute.
While watching the Dutch national team &#8212; mostly speed skaters &#8212; enter the arena opening night, Couric quipped happily, &#8220;&#8216;why are they so good,&#8217; you may be asking yourselves? Because skating is an important mode of transportation in a city like Amsterdam.&#8221;
&#8220;As you all know, it has lots of canals that can freeze in the winter. So for as long as those canals have existed, the Dutch have skated on them to get from place to place, to race each other and also to have fun,&#8221; she continued.
Obviously, she was reading from a prepared statement, clearly written by someone whose only familiarity with the Netherlands is from a single reading of the Little Dutch Boy sometime in the mid-to-late 1940s. The Dutch do not skate to work (perhaps at the tulip factory? in the windmills? making cheese?) on frozen-over canals because The Netherlands is actually a fairly large country where the canals only get cold enough to freeze an average of five days per year.
Twitter was, yet again, merciless.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Rush Hour in the Netherlands. <a href="https://t.co/RRpDBV9pDX">pic.twitter.com/RRpDBV9pDX</a>
&#8212; DirkJanMoedt (@moedtdj) <a href="https://twitter.com/moedtdj/status/962664487772975105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
This is true, this is me skating to work at the cheese factory last friday <a href="https://t.co/otHRmDSeys">pic.twitter.com/otHRmDSeys</a>
&#8212; Thomas Hogeling (@ThomasHogeling) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThomasHogeling/status/962641096063975425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
Indeed! This is the typical morning commute for the windmill workers in Amsterdam <a href="https://t.co/Y15HX3gzGx">pic.twitter.com/Y15HX3gzGx</a>
&#8212; Steven Ottens (@stvno) <a href="https://twitter.com/stvno/status/962645764831924224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Traffic information. 
Be careful, it&#8217;s slippery out there! <a href="https://t.co/soQAAiCECz">pic.twitter.com/soQAAiCECz</a>
&#8212; OndeRob (@OndeRobb) <a href="https://twitter.com/OndeRobb/status/962655458954825729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2018</a></blockquote>
Fortunately, the Dutch weren&#8217;t as deeply insulted as the Koreans, so NBC did not have to issue a blanket, personal apology.
It is true that, historically, the Dutch skated on their frozen canals as a way of getting around in the winter, but that&#8217;s not really true anymore (they do love to bike places, though). For the record, though, the Dutch love for speed skating actually <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/winter-olympics-2014-speed-skating-continues-be-dominated-netherlands-why-1554557">has more to do with past success and excellent timing than frozen canals</a>. The first year Olympic speed skating was televised, two Dutch speed skaters dominated the medal podium, leading to speed skating becoming a national obsession.
The Dutch now have eight Olympic training clubs and 22 long track ice rinks, <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/55182/why-are-dutch-so-good-speed-skating">according to Mental Floss</a>. By comparison, the United States only has six Olympic training clubs, and they serve the entire country.

Olympic OOPS: Katie Couric Has Now Insulted The Dutch

Olympics

NBC, the only network on which Americans can watch the Olympics, has been forced to issue an apology to the entire nation of South Korea after its anchors, Mike Tirico and Katie Couric, and its Asian correspondent, Joshua Cooper Ramo, accidentally insulted the Korean people during their Opening Ceremonies broadcast.
The trio was discussing visiting Olympic dignitaries, when they settled on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/winter-olympics/nbc-apologizes-to-korean-people-after-correspondents-ignorant-insensitive-comment/ar-BBIXGgh">according to Yahoo News</a>.
&#8220;In the booth with Mike Tirico and Katie Couric, NBC Asian correspondent Joshua Cooper Ramo said that &#8216;every Korean&#8217; respected Japan for their recent achievements as a nation, insinuating that South Korea had forgotten about the 35 brutal years of Japanese rule that ended after World War II,&#8221; Yahoo reported.
There is a well-known and longstanding hostility between the two nations, and Twitter was merciless, as Koreans excoriated Ramo for his cultural insensitivity.
&#8220;Tens of thousands of Koreans and non-Koreans alike have criticized Ramo and NBC Sports on their social media, urging them to correct this misinformation and apologize,&#8221;<a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/sports/2018/02/702_243965.html"> reported the Korea Times</a>, which also called the comments &#8220;incorrect and insensitive.&#8221;
On Saturday, NBC issued a comprehensive apology.
<blockquote>
During our coverage of the Parade of Nations on Friday we said it was notable that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the trip to Korea for the Olympics, &#8220;representing Japan, a country which occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945 but every Korean will tell you that Japan is a cultural, technological and economic example that has been so important to their own transformation.&#8221; We understand the Korean people were insulted by these comments and we apologize.
</blockquote>
Oops.

NBC Forced To Apologize After Katie Couric, Colleagues Insult Entire Nation Of South Korea

It was just a funny quip then, but it seems a little less funny now.
Not long ago, former Today show host Katie Couric appeared on Bravo TV&#8217;s &#8220;Watch What Happens Live&#8221; with Andy Cohen, and played the live game, &#8220;Plead the Fifth,&#8221; where celebrities are asked to answer hot button questions to earn points (if they fail to answer, the host gets the point). Guests are encouraged to be honest and the results can be . . . very entertaining.
In her segment, Couric was asked what her former co-host Matt Lauer&#8217;s most annoying trait was, and she responded thusly:
<blockquote data-lang="en">Throwback:
Katie Couric was asked what Matt Lauer&#8217;s &#8220;most annoying habit&#8221; was.
She responded: &#8220;He pinches me on the ass a lot.&#8221;
The crowd laughed. <a href="https://t.co/8Y4tC8E9Ky">pic.twitter.com/8Y4tC8E9Ky</a>
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) <a href="https://twitter.com/CalebJHull/status/935911667355045890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
Apparently, according to Couric back then, Lauer was a little handsy. &#8220;He pinches me on the ass a lot,&#8221; she answered.
Bravo TV host Andy Cohen got a big kick out of the admission and the audience erupted in peals of laughter: after all, who could picture Matt Lauer, the least funny man on television, going around pinching peoples&#8217; rear ends as a joke?
It turns out, quite a few people, who then complained about it to NBC&#8217;s human resources department, resulting in Lauer&#8217;s unceremonious departure from the morning news program (and, technically, the entire NBC network).
Now, obviously, it&#8217;s not clear that Couric was being truthful, but the name of the game is &#8220;Plead the Fifth,&#8221; and if you&#8217;re not willing to be honest, you have to give Andy Cohen the prize. Whether Couric was making a joke or not, the bad habit is now certainly plausible.

WATCH: Katie Couric Says Matt Lauer ‘Pinches Me On The A** A Lot’

Matt Lauer

Sexual Misconduct

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