Every Friday, PBS News Hour devotes a segment to recapping the week's news with New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart. Brooks is supposed to be the conservative half of the duo, but according to a new NewsBusters study, he agrees with Capehart 61 percent of the time.
NewsBusters analysts examined eight Friday News Hour episodes in January and February and found that Brooks and Capehart agreed on 17 out of 28 topics where they were both asked the same question.
By contrast, the American Enterprise Institute’s Matthew Continetti disagreed with Capehart during his two chances when he pinch-hit for Brooks on February 7.
Sometimes, when Brooks agrees with Capehart, he sounds indistinguishable from his counterpart's liberal hysteria. For instance, on February 28, Brooks claimed the White House’s changes to the press pool are proof that President Donald Trump “is trying to dismantle the idea of the press.”
At the same time, there is some nuance in Brooks’s numbers. Conservatives are allowed to disagree with Trump on some things, such as Russia/Ukraine and tariffs, but, on the other hand, just because Brooks disagreed with Capehart does not mean he brought a forceful conservative counterargument. Brooks is the man who voted for Barack Obama over quintessential GOP moderate John McCain while gawking over the crease in Obama's pants because he didn't like Sarah Palin.
For example, on February 14, host Geoff Bennett asked, “Is it clear to you where the guardrails are?” Capehart gave the expected liberal answer of no, arguing Congress is too subservient to Trump. Brooks, instead of rejecting the premise that Trump was threatening the constitutional system, predicted the courts will constrain him, thereby still being anti-Trump — he did rail against "Ivy League right-wing nihilism" — but not as apocalyptic about it as Capehart.
Brooks’s 61 percent agreeable number tracks with his previous behavior. An earlier NewsBusters study from Clay Waters found that during the 2024 Republican National Convention, Brooks was 67 percent negative compared to 91 percent for Capehart. By contrast, during the Democratic National Convention, Brooks was only 38 percent negative compared to Capehart’s 2 percent.
Another way to give context to Brooks’s amenable behavior would be to look at the topics News Hour’s various hosts have selected for the duo to discuss. Of the 28 topics given to both men, 23 were Trump or Republican-centric. Of the five about Democrats, only one has happened since Inauguration Day.
That came on January 31 during a conversation about the state of the Democratic Party. Of the other four, two were about President Jimmy Carter’s legacy and funeral, while the other two were about the importance of a ceasefire deal in Gaza for President Joe Biden’s legacy and his farewell address.
Three of Brooks’s disagreements with Capehart came on the non-Carter-related Democratic subjects.
American taxpayers deserve a conservative voice who most conservatives identify with on their public television debates. News Hour never has anyone who could be considered a wild MAGA person when Brooks takes the week off, but his substitutes often prove you can still challenge Capehart’s liberalism and get an actual debate between the two sides. It is time one of those substitutes gets a promotion.
