While appearing on CBS’s Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Tuesday to bemoan the “insane” and “depressing” state of the country under President Trump, journalist Katie Couric simultaneously went on all three broadcast networks to promote her new National Geographic documentary series and plead for “civil discourse.”
Referring to the news cycle during the Trump presidency, Couric made this profane declaration to Colbert: “I mean, what’s really good for late-night comedy and for cable news is really, really (bleep) for the country. Let’s be honest, right?”As the late-night audience laughed, Couric continued: “But you know, when my husband and I watch your show at night, we’re like, ‘Can you can really believe what’s going on in this country?’ It is insane, isn’t it?”
The liberal comedian chimed in: “Yeah, the President’s – the President’s personal lawyer has been raided by the FBI because evidently there was a reasonable suspicion that he and the President were conspiring in a criminal act.”
Couric then mentioned the President’s alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels: “Yes. Not only that, then you have Stormy [Daniels] watch. Of course, that’s associated with the raid. You have – I mean, it’s just unbelievable. And so do – I mean, are you finding that it’s still amusing, or just so depressing?”
Colbert replied: “It’s still amusing. It’s still amusing.” That prompted more laughs from the audience.
As she trashed Trump in that exchange, aired early Wednesday morning, Couric was actually in the middle of a media blitz to promote a new documentary series she was hosting on the National Geographic Channel, America Inside Out With Katie Couric. While appearing on NBC’s Today show on Wednesday, Couric explained the series in a taped promo that was featured at the top of the segment:
There’s a lot of anxiety in the country, and as a result, we’re not hearing each other, we’re not talking to each other. We stick with like-minded people and have lost our ability to appreciate that someone’s life experience may be very different than yours.
What I tried to do with this series is not judge people but to encourage an open, honest dialogue. Actually listen to each other, be critical thinkers, and be open-minded. These are really complicated topics to unpack: white anxiety, gender inequality, tech addiction. I don’t think this series is gonna change the world, but I’m hoping it will help see a different perspective.
Talking to co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb minutes later, Couric implored: “And I’m trying to help people rediscover their empathy muscle, because we’re so polarized and there’s so much anger and hate towards each side, against each side, that I think we’ve forgotten that and we need to step into each other’s shoes and understand each other’s perspectives.”
Her friendly chat with “like-minded” liberal Colbert hardly seemed to be evidence of her trying to “see a different perspective.”
Joining the cast of ABC’s The View later Wednesday morning, Couric lamented:
First of all, we’re so polarized, there’s so much hate and vitriol and anger. And I know that this is something that you all talk about. Because it doesn’t leave room for a reasonable conversation. Civil discourse, I think, has become an oxymoron in this country.
She later complained: “And I think we’re – you know, we’re so bifurcated and polarized and we’re all living in our own silos and echo chambers, getting affirmation instead of information.”
Speaking of an “echo chamber” that “doesn’t leave room for a reasonable conversation,” Couric seemed to forget that she was on The View, a show known for its nasty, unhinged political rhetoric.
Co-host Whoopi Golberg feared:
But I worry, I worry because, you know, people make shifts and they have great conversations and then everybody goes back home. And then maybe you watch a specific network that then takes everything you’ve just had conversations about, and you sort of feel like, “Oh, I think I understand a little more.” You forget that you’ve made this shift, and now you’re back into the thing.
Couric agreed: “Well, I think the media profits from outrage, too. You know, they profit from outrage and anger and having your own views reflected back at you.” Again, she seemed to forget what show she was on.
The irony of Couric talking to people like Colbert or The View hosts, know for their vicious personal attacks, and then wringing her hands over how polarized the nation has become is stunning. Especially when she even offered up some vitriol of her own.
It’s also important to remember how Couric’s last attempt at journalism went. In 2016, she embarked on a similar media tour to promote an anti-gun documentary, which was later exposed for its deceptive editing of gun rights supporters.
