On TV, weekend anchors scrambled to cover a political earthquake

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WASHINGTON - For the US news media, it happened again for the first time in 56 years: A sitting Democratic president abruptly dropped out of the campaign.

On a Sunday.

When Mr Lyndon B. Johnson announced his withdrawal in 1968, in a prime-time television address, the networks’ weekend anchor teams scrambled to keep up. “What I’d rather do,” said shocked CBS journalist Roger Mudd, “is go home and come back tomorrow morning and begin to talk about it.”

This time around, when

US President Joe Biden exited on a Sunday,

the 24/7 television ecosystem kicked into gear.

All three national broadcasters – ABC, CBS and NBC – pre-empted regular sports and entertainment programmes to bring viewers the news. CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins was in a car headed to the New York City borough of Brooklyn when the news came in. She turned around toward her midtown Manhattan studio, conducting a telephone interview with former president Donald Trump on the way, and was on air within an hour.

Mr Joe Scarborough, Mr Biden’s most vocal champion in the news media, quickly dialled in by telephone to MSNBC.

“So much of what Biden’s inner circle did over the last couple of weeks was to provide him that space,” his disembodied voice told viewers, “to give him the space to make this decision.”

Mr Scarborough waxed philosophical about the President’s selflessness before telling anchor Katy Tur that he had to hop off the line. “I’m about to – I think I have to run to my day!” he chirped, before hanging up.

It was actually Ms Jen Psaki, Mr Biden’s former White House press secretary turned MSNBC host, who was live on air when her former boss announced his decision on the social platform X.

She read his statement aloud from her iPhone, staring down at the device as the camera held steady.

Ms Psaki kept her cool, although she sounded slightly emotional minutes later, conceding to viewers: “I am just digesting this myself.” Ms Tur assumed anchoring duties shortly afterward.

On Fox News, political anchor Bret Baier called in by phone and updated viewers on an argument that instantly circulated among conservative leaders.

“If he’s stepping down as the nominee, how can he continue to be president for the next six months?” Mr Baier asked. “That’s part of the discussion you’ll start to hear, at least from Republicans.”

In the immediate aftermath of Mr Biden’s decision, Fox News stuck with news anchors such as Mr Baier, Ms Shannon Bream and Mr Brit Hume to dissect the fallout, although Mr Sean Hannity and Ms Laura Ingraham, two of its right-wing opinion stars, were set to host special Sunday evening editions of their shows.

CNN was airing a taped edition of Mr Fareed Zakaria’s show when the network broke in to announce Mr Biden’s withdrawal, cutting off an ad for internet domain service GoDaddy.

A-list television anchors rarely work weekends, and political journalists at major networks were still recovering on July 21 from a week of coverage in Milwaukee at the Republican National Convention. Many struggled to return home on July 19 because of a software glitch that upended air travel.

Ms Rachel Maddow, of MSNBC, was among the few anchors on July 21 who openly joked about having to rush to a studio. “I apologise for looking like a boiled ham,” she quipped after she arrived on air shortly after 2pm.

She praised Mr Biden – “What a man. What a patriot. What an act of selfless devotion to your country.” – and seemed to endorse a unilateral embrace of Vice-President Kamala Harris as his replacement atop the Democratic ticket.

Ms Maddow went as far as to say “I don’t care” when Ms Tur pressed her about who could serve as Harris’ running mate.

Live coverage was expected to run late into the night. ABC, CBS and NBC announced they would air one-hour special newscasts on July 19 at 7pm Eastern time, and the cable networks promised viewers that their favourite personalities would be appearing on camera later in the evening. NYTIMES