Smug Dickerson, DuBois Sign Off ‘CBS Evening News’ with Trump Jab, Nod to Gaza

While nowhere near the absurdity of Brian Williams’s December 2021 sign-off from MSNBC, Thursday marked the final show for John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois as co-anchors of the CBS Evening News and with CBS News after less than a year of falling ratings and questions about changing the newscast’s format.

To cap off their last show, the pair went off by waxing poetic about “facts” and “trust” while knocking President Trump and praising their Gaza producer for reporting the news and staying alive.

 

Dickerson led off by telling the unaware that “this is our last night anchoring the CBS Evening News” and then gave away to DuBois to led off with his reflections.

DuBois first thanked the viewers before remarking he spent the year “travel[ing] the country to cover communities dealing with unspeakable tragedy and loss” but also saw “shining brightly always was the heart and soul of everyday people, really, really good people, there for each other and crying out for our leaders to do better to protect them.”

Following an anecdote about a couple driving cross-country in an RV and finding their fellow Americans to be good and decent, DuBois praised CBS’s Gaza propagandist, Marwan Al Ghoul as someone who makes “CBS great”:

[A]nd what has always made CBS great is its dedicated team of journalists, exemplified by Marwan Al Ghoul, our producer in Gaza. Despite bombs and bullets flying overhead, some even taking out members of his own family, he’s brought the story home to America fearlessly[.]

DuBois zoomed out more broadly to the Evening News staff, whom he said “have been fulfilling our commitment to following the facts, not opinions, and accurately informing you.”

He concluded by praising his co-anchor: “John, you’re an outstanding journalist, an even better person. I have learned quite a bit from working with you. Proud to call you not just a colleague, but a friend.”

Dickerson noted the two “didn’t even really know each other” “a year-and-a-half ago” before providing his thoughts that, as we could have predicted, were thoughtful yet dripping with liberal smugness, starting by insisting they were always thinking of the viewers:

What the viewers don’t know is that, long before they could see us, we were thinking about you, the viewers, planning for months. In a conference room, we talked about your attention, how precious it was, and how we would honor it.

This led into his point about their dedication to “facts” and questioning “the powerful,” which Dickerson of course meant the President:

That question has guided the decisions you saw and many you didn’t, a research team that sweats the facts that shape how you see the world, correspondents who follow the facts into war zones, into countries where they could be jailed, into sharp exchanges with the powerful, who don’t like being held to account, including a president, who insulted them for it.

To drive this home, he even played a clip of President Trump calling chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes “stupid” on Thanksgiving.

He then concluded: “Stories of wonder, of loss, of courage, asking why until the answers ran out. It has been an honor to put the work of our correspondents, producers, editors and writers before you, and to work with my partner, Maurice, who put his heart into our shared concern, doing right by you. Your expectation has been our responsibility and our reward.”

In formally saying goodbye, they drew one last eye-roll as DuBois channeled Edward R. Murrow by saying “good night and good luck.”

Following a rotating team of fill-ins over the Christmas holiday, CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil will take the job on January 5. While he’s certainly had quite the character arc and it would not surprise us in the slightest if it became a respectable, centrist newscast, NewsBusters will be there to provide the rigorous oversight you’ve come to respect.

To see the relevant CBS transcript from December 18, click here.