“CBS Evening News”anchor Tony Dokoupil, who replaced Norah O’Donnell in early January, was criticized and mocked for telling steelworkers in Pittsburgh that his job as a reporter is “not as easy as it looks” and offering to swap roles.
“I’m going to talk to these steelworkers,” Dokoupil said in a clip shared on social media. He then turned to the workers in question and continued, “You want to trade jobs? This one’s not as easy as it looks. I’ve been learning that. Thanks for the hospitality guys. I really appreciate it man. Thank you very much.”
Dokoupil was criticized for his network debut this month. His first week on the network averaged 4.17 million viewers, a 23% drop from the same week in 2025. During his first night on the air, Dokoupil introduced himself twice and also cut himself off mid-sentence.
He even drew the ire of conservative host Megyn Kelly, who nicknamed Dokoupil “Toprah” because of the way she said he attempted to “therapize’ viewers.
“‘Toprah’ Dokoupil, that’s what I call him because he’s crying and constantly trying to therapize us through the news,” she said Wednesday. “I figured it out. Bari is an out lesbian, and she’s in a marriage to another woman, and they have kids and so on. This is a lesbian’s idea of what women want. Like, he’s sweet, he’s soft, this is what is going to sell. No, no, no, no, no, no. We want someone with balls, with a spine, someone who will protect us, somebody who, when the burglar comes, will be the first out the door. They won’t be hiding behind us like that.”
Kelly added: “Oh my God, the patronization. He’s giving Stuart Smalley vibes: ‘We’re good enough. We’re smart enough. And gosh darn it, people like us.’ I cannot get over how he continues to patronize the audience like, ‘Oh, you know what? You may not agree with us on everything, but that’s okay, you don’t have to. We’re gonna make sure you have the–’ just f–king deliver the news.”
