CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil interviewed his own mother for an on-air segment after his embattled boss demanded the struggling network land more “scoops.”
The MAGA-coded host was discussing a study that found grandparents who care for their grandchildren score better on memory and language tests and decline more slowly than those who do not.
Dokoupil, who has four children, including two with his current wife, MSNBC anchor Katy Tur, then turned to a notably unbiased source for commentary on the benefits of caring for grandchildren.
“I find that they give me a sense of purpose. They energize me more than drive me down,” his mother, Gail, said.
Dokoupil, who has had a rocky start as Evening News anchor after being promoted by the network’s Trump-friendly editor in chief, Bari Weiss, wrapped up the segment with a cringeworthy emotional sign-off.
“Something magical happens when a parent becomes a grandparent,” he said. “And to think, the next time I call my mom for help with the kids, I can use the line she used on me as a kid: ‘It’s for your own good, Mom.’ I love you.”
Brian Lowry, a media columnist and critic for Status, mocked Dokoupil’s overly familiar approach to the evening news.
“Ah, a throwback to those days where they tried to humanize [Walter] Cronkite by having him co-anchor with his dog, Trusty,” Lowry joked on X.
The latest in an increasingly long string of awkward moments from Dokoupil’s tenure came shortly after Weiss convened an all-hands meeting on Tuesday to outline her vision for CBS News following its disastrous first months under her leadership.
That includes her decision to pull a 60 Minutes segment highly critical of Donald Trump’s hardline deportation policies, as well as a broader, friendlier shift towards the Trump administration.
One of Weiss’ big ideas was for CBS News to place a “huge emphasis on scoops.”
“Not scoops that expire minutes later. But investigative scoops. And, crucially, scoops of ideas. Scoops of explanation,” Weiss told staff. “This is where we can soar, and where we’ll be investing.”
Weiss also acknowledged that CBS News is currently not “producing a product enough people want,” urging staff to “create the wave and then ride it.”
Her troubled start as CBS News boss has been underscored by Dokoupil’s gaffe-filled tenure as Evening News anchor.
That includes a debut broadcast plagued by technical difficulties and a series of awkward sign-offs, one of which saw him “salute” Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the “ultimate Florida man.”
Dokoupil has also drawn widespread criticism for crying on air while recounting how his childhood in Miami was disrupted by the legal troubles of his drug-dealing father.
In June 2020, Dokoupil also broke down during a CBS This Morning segment while discussing his mother’s retirement after 41 years as a public school teacher.
“This is hard for me, because it’s such a big milestone, and I love her, her students love her, and it’s such a good life,” Dokoupil said, repeatedly pausing to compose himself. “So congratulations, Mom, and well done.”
Dokoupil and his mother left Miami and relocated to Maryland in 1986, when he was 6 years old, because of his father’s legal problems.
In a 2009 Newsweek article, Dokoupil described how the pair traveled across the country that year as part of a trip in what he would eventually realize was a desperate treasure hunt to recover large sums of cash his father had stashed during his drug-dealing days.
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