Politics
NEW: ‘Cold War’ At ABC News Worsens After Stephanopoulos Suffers Painful Snub
The “cold war” taking place within ABC News has created a rock-hard divide between anchors David Muir and George Stephanopoulos after the network’s new golden boy outshone his has-been mentor, landing himself a spot on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in 2025.
Muir, 51, has been waging a private battle with Stephanopoulos, 64, ever since rumors emerged that the elder anchor was miffed about Muir manning the network’s election night desk solo. The decision by executives came as a slap in the face to Stephanopoulos, a former advisor to Bill Clinton who has been with ABC News since 1997.
“There certainly has been historic tension — to put it lightly — between the two anchors,” reporter Olivia Darcy confirmed at the time.
Now those tensions have reached a boiling point after colleagues rushed to praise Muir, who has long been allegedly seen by Stephanopoulos as an ungrateful usurper of the news institution he helped build.
“David Muir! Our own David Muir,” gushed “Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts after he made the exclusive list.
Stephanopoulos issued a stiff commendation to his younger colleague.
“Congratulations to David and all the nominees,” he wrote on social media.
For what it’s worth, sources within ABC are continuing to push back on leaks suggesting that the two are actually in a hostile place.
“This is a tired narrative. Everyone at ABC News is proud of David’s recognition,” a spokesperson said in a statement to the Daily Mail.
According to others, the feud stems from the decision by former anchor Diane Sawyer and network honchos to select Muir as her replacement for the prestigious desk on “World News Tonight.”
“I am lucky that my successor is also the irreverent friend I want to hang out with when the camera shuts down,” Sawyer told Time as part of Muir’s profile. “Though I am also miffed that he’s the guy who can leap two flights of stairs, vault into the anchor chair, and never lose focus – or his breath.
“He’s the anchor chosen for interviews by Popes and Presidents. He shows up calm, respectful, and fearless,” she continued. “Every night more than 8 million Americans trust him to make sense of the day.”
After the decision was made in 2021, Disney CEO Bob Iger reportedly flew from Los Angeles to New York to broker a deal to keep Stephanopoulos from resigning after the younger Muir was promoted to Chief Anchor. The role had been held by Stephanopoulos since 2014, and he chafed at the notion that he was being sidelined by his younger, more ambitious then-47-year-old colleague.
Muir’s flair for the dramatic has managed to claw back a missing one million viewers who tuned out toward the end of Sawyer’s tenure, but it wasn’t without a few slip-ups. During the historic Palisades, California fires, Muir was roundly mocked for using a clothespin to pin his firefighter-style outfit to his svelte sides before going live in front of the wealthy neighborhood’s charred remains.
Another insider told the outlet that Muir’s greatest weapon is familiarity. His growth in audience numbers has eclipsed even that of longtime NBC star Lester Holt.
“Lester’s an icon – and some night’s he’s still down to [ABC’s] David Muir by more than 1million viewers,” the source said.
“He has that recognition, and was already down 1.6 million to Muir on some nights.”
Stephanopoulos, who was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in Manhattan last September, has been less interested in directing ABC’s news coverage after the “World News Tonight” slight, according to Darcy.
“There’s a reason that [George] does not play a role in the larger ABC news political coverage anymore,” she wrote in her newsletter.
