With the chaos engulfing CBS over the last couple years, it was announced last week that a new line-up of hosts will take over CBS This Morning on Monday. Gayle King will stay, but Tony Dokoupil and Anthony Mason will be added, which does not bode well for the show's dwindling objectivity. On Tuesday Mason appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to brag about how he had campaigned for Democrat President Lyndon Johnson...at age eight.
Mason blurted, “I’ve loved campaigns since I was, like, eight. I literally got off the school bus when I was eight years old and marched into LBJ headquarters and said I want to hand out leaflets.” In a statement that many conservatives and independents will greet with extreme skepticism, Mason added, “But then when you become a journalist, you get to cover campaigns. And if a candidate loses, it’s fine.”
Is it fine though? Doesn't seem so for many journalists, especially when Democrats lose.
Mason described his early political life: “I thought I wanted to be in politics. And then everyone I worked for seemed to lose. So, I was like, ‘This is no fun.’” Were these other candidates also Democrats? Mason didn’t say.
Mason was accompanied by Dukopil and King. Dokoupil revealed how his dad was actually a powerful Florida drug dealer: “Unbeknownst to me growing up in Miami, my father was not in the real estate business. He was in the drug business.”
Bizarrely, he boasted, “[My dad] was a very principled marijuana dealer.”
Dokoupil added:
Exclusively marijuana. As far as he was concerned, he was importing something that was nothing but love and joy in the world, never hurt a soul. And he wasn't doing it, like, little baggies at a time. No one had told me this when I was growing up. It was a big family secret. We were living high on the horse. I mean, private school — I'm going to private school with the Bush grand kids, Mercedes in the garage.
Co-host King is a long-time Democratic donor and friend of the Obamas.
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UPDATE, 1:37 p.m. Eastern: In response to a video tweet of his comments on the NewsBusters Twitter account, Mason replied that he went onto volunteer for Republican Richard Nixon during his successful White House bid in 1968. The tweet is below:
A partial transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
Late Show With Stephen Colbert
5/14/19
11:53STEPHEN COLBERT: Tonight, folks, my first guests are the new co-hosts of CBS This Morning, which make its debut this Monday. Please welcome Gayle King, Anthony Mason, and Tony Dokoupil!
...
COLBERT: What do you make of the changes yourself?GAYLE KING: Well, you know, listen, we have a new president at CBS, Susan Zirinsky, she's a bad-ass. When she came in, in January, she said, "Listen. We're going to make changes here. I want to make sure that we get it right." Clearly if everything was going according to plan there wouldn't be changes. She didn't come in with a weed whacker and just let everybody go. She got lay of the land. She got the lay of the land and decided, “I want to make some changes. It's great for John, it's great for Norah. I really think it’s great for me.
ANTHONY MASON: We don’t mind it either, by the way.
...
KING: It's a new chapter. It really is. It’s a new chapter. But it's not going to be a new show in terms of what you've come to expect when you watch us at CBS This Morning. I am really, really psyched about this. I mean that.
...
TONY DOKOUPIL: Unbeknownst to me growing up in Miami, my father was not in the real estate business. He was in the drug business.
KING: Oooh.
COLBERT: Which drug are we talking about here? And did you bring enough for everyone? It’s late night. It’s late night. So, what was it?
DOKOUPIL: It came by the bale and he was a very principled marijuana dealer.
COLBERT: A principled marijuana — ?
DOKOUPIL: Exclusively marijuana. As far as he was concerned, he was importing something that was nothing but love and joy in the world, never hurt a soul. And he wasn't doing it, like, little baggies at a time. No one had told me this when I was growing up. It was a big family secret. We were living high on the horse. I mean, private school — I'm going to private school with the Bush grand kids, Mercedes in the garage.
...
MASON: I’ve loved campaigns since I was like 8. I literally got off the school bus when I was eight years old and marched into LBJ headquarters and said I want to hand out leaflets.
DOKOUPIL: Wow!
KING: At eight?
MASON: At eight. I don’t know why. I can’t explain that to you. But I did.
COLBERT: Did you always want to be in politics?
MASON: No, I thought I wanted to be in politics. And then everyone I worked for seemed to lose. So, I was like, “This is no fun.”
COLBERT: I’m a jinx.
MASON: But then when you become a journalist, you get to cover campaigns. And if a candidate loses, it’s fine.
COLBERT: Sometimes.
