Tony Dokoupil attends the 75th annual Writers Guild Awards at the Edison Ballroom on Sunday, March 5, 2023 in New York. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Reporting from Miami on Tuesday, newly minted CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil dedicated a lauding segment to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Dokoupil, who started on the job this week after years as a co-anchor on CBS’s morning show, began the approximately one-minute segment by listing off all the roles that Rubio has assumed in the Trump administration. In addition to his job overseeing the Department of State, Rubio is also the interim national security adviser, the acting national archivist, and head of the now-gutted US Agency for International Development, or USAID, before handing it off to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought. (Dokoupil didn’t mention USAID’s demise or the Vought handoff.)
“Whatever you think of his politics,” Dokoupil said on Tuesday, “you got to admit, it’s an impressive résumé.”
Stepping into the job this week, Dokoupil takes over a role that has been held by Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, and Katie Couric. Dokoupil’s evening anchor position comes as CBS News continues to be reshaped by new Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. Since Weiss, an opinion writer who started the Free Press website, began her tenure, she has heavily altered the political tone of the network, and, most notably, pulled a 60 Minutes segment on Venezuelan men sent by the Trump administration to a torturous prison in El Salvador.
During his Rubio segment, Dokoupil referenced AI-generated images of the secretary that have been going viral online. “AI memes have added to that portfolio,” he continued after listing Rubio’s various government roles, “casting secretary Rubio as the new Governor of Minnesota, the new Shah of Iran, the Prime Minister of Greenland, the new manager of Manchester United, the head of Hilton Hotels, and highest of high honors of all, the new Michelin Man.”
Dokoupil shows the images and lists them in a seemingly comedic tone. He doesn’t, though, explain the context—or news—behind these jokes.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced this week that he would no longer seek reelection amid investigations into social service fraud and the Trump administration’s targeting of his state’s Somali population through immigration enforcement. Rubio is currently shepherding the president’s purported plan to acquire control over Greenland. Just this week, the Department of Homeland Security accused a Minneapolis Hilton hotel of refusing to accept the bookings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents—leading Hilton Worldwide Holdings to remove the local hotel from their system.
After listing the memes, Dokoupil said, “back in real life of course, these memes may not add up to much” before continuing, “but for Rubio’s hometown fans, who are many around here in Miami, it is a sign of how Florida, once an American punchline, has become a leader on the world stage.”
He ended the segment by speaking directly to the secretary. “Marco Rubio, we salute you,” he said, “you’re the ultimate Florida Man.” The White House’s rapid response X page then shared Dokoupil’s segment with a simple message: “WE LOVE @SecRubio!”
