The arduous task of cataloging just who ranks among the worst in the pundit class is a daunting one and imprecise. Subjectivity rises as there is not only a degree of personal measurement on policies and issues but also on personalities. It is similar to comedy; what you find deeply amusing could only elicit a smirk from another, and likewise, the disgust felt from a journalist.
I did attempt a level of measurement to items such as the impact of outlets, degree of influence, and the like, as well as objective assessment of reporting at times. Ultimately, I believe when looking at the nadir of the journalism class, we can all agree – while you may see certain entries as better or worse, they all have a place in the mire of their industry. So for today, here are the entries from 26-50 in the bottom rung of journalism's elite.
50. SAVANNAH GUTHRIE - She claimed the firing of Liz Cheney from leadership posts was the result of GOP sexism (even though she was placed as a woman and replaced by a woman).
49. JULIA IOFFE - She pushed for authorities to go after Fox News; she let slip the relationship between reporters and Democrats is sacred; was on "Reliable Sources" and called Fox "like a Crazy sauce"; accused Glenn Greenwald of attacking young female reporters, who were aged 29 and 35.
48. DONIE O'SULLIVAN - He has built himself into CNN's conspiracy expert, going to select events and seeking out crackpots to serve as examples of mainstream GOP thinking. He watched Joe Biden's town hall and turned it into a forum on Qanon.
47. MATT VISER - Should be embarrassed for the level of gushing coverage he gives to Joe Biden. Could not be overly critical of Biden's last town hall. Looked swooningly at Joe's approval numbers and only saw them rising.
46. JILL FILIPOVIC - In unbiased fashion, called Biden the voice of presidential sanity. Suggested that feminists should divorce their Republican husbands, affecting probably two households nationwide. Ended up deleting posts asking for parents who regret having kids, and demanding we institute QR codes for vaccinations in fascist fashion.
45. MEHDI HASAN - Blamed Donald Trump's alleged Islamophobia for murders – in Canada. Said POC candidate Winsome Sears winning her VA election is like saying, "I have black friends." Said on his show that Fox News makes MAGA nation worse than Al Qaeda.
44. ANDERSON COOPER - Andy basically carried President Biden through his CNN town hall, helping him with answers to softball questions. He hosted an interview with Rittenhouse shooting victim Gage Grosskreutz and allowed him to lie about his testimony. He was part of the chorus of journos calling Jan. 6 the worst violence since the Civil War.
43. JEMELE HILL - The former ESPN hostess plies her trade now at The Atlantic and never tires of delivering racism claims, in tiresome fashion. But she is also ignorant of Covid issues as well.
42. MANU RAJU - Less an insufferable reporter than he is just an incessant bore. For weeks, he fills reports on nearly a daily basis about Senator Joe Manchin's position on opposing the filibuster. Then he moved on – to pester Manchin daily about opposing the Build Back Better spending bill. He also lost his composure on camera when a cicada was crawling on him.
At what point do we declare Manu Raju obsessed with the filibuster and changing the mind of Sen Manchin??? pic.twitter.com/TK73SF7tRw
— Brad Slager - Incontinent On Another Continent (@MartiniShark) June 7, 2021
41. MAGGIE HABERMAN - Tried insulting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for referring to notes when he discussed Joe Biden, who cannot recite his name without a teleprompter. She got the vapors when discussing people daring to wear a mask in Congress with a phrase of which she disapproved. Took Biden's side, of course, on the rude Christmas "Let's Go, Brandon" phone call.
40. LESTER HOLT - Accepted an award for journalism by saying in journalism fairness is overrated. Dutifully reported on the DHS raising of the terror alert with no sign of actual terror. As NBC was struggling with Olympics ratings, their star anchor featured a sprinter convinced by Black Lives Matter that this country was trying to kill him.
39. AMANDA CARPENTER - The resident dish over at The Bulwark has not done much to bolster her bona fides. Masks and vaccines really confused her. She got snippy with Anthony Scaramucci over who they both used to work for. She expressed dismay with Biden after enthusiastically pushing for his election.
38. WAJAHAT ALI - He saw people leading normal lives and felt he was in a horror movie. He obliviously recognized the Pelosi-Gen. Milley coup attempt on Trump. He went on a racism tirade following the Virginia election results.
37. STEPHANIE RUHLE - She has made a bit of a name for herself on MSNBC following "Morning Joe" with her bold displays of struggling with math. This is a misstep, considering how often she attempts to defend Joe Biden's disastrous economy. She raved his spending bill would be, The Barbie Dreamhouse of improvements to the human condition.
36. TAYLOR LORENZ - The New York Times social media crank has made a name for herself attacking those on social media she deems to have stepped out of line. She was lurking in a room on Clubhouse and reported that CEO Marc Andreessen used the dreaded "R-word." Her attempt to cancel him fizzled when it was shown he had not done so. Then Lorenz got upset when her tactic was used against her, and her paper and others accused Tucker Carlson of attacking Lorenz because he used her name and image on the air - it was her NY Times bio photograph.
35. BRIAN WILLIAMS - He tried calling Senator Ted Cruz "Kremlin Cruz," and the senator promptly dismantled him over it. He was baffled why people refer to the country as "Communist China." He pondered sadly of the things Joe Biden was impacted by due to Covid, "He has been robbed of so much of the majesty and pomp of the job."
34. DAVID FRUM - The Covid hysteric said hospitals should quietly deprioritize unvaccinated people. He wrote a polemic called "What Never-Trumpers Want Now" that was laughably lame. The supposed conservative had his treatise on getting rid of guns. Desperate enough to defend Biden over Afghanistan, he called the idea of people being left in-country a myth.
33. PAUL KRUGMAN - It is easy to dismiss him as a non-journalist, except he is a pundit these days, and one who journalists love, for some reason. He called Republicans authoritarians for – get this – opposing government mandates. The economist tries to tell us the worst inflation in decades does not impact low-income individuals. He claims the GOP made up the looting and burning of cities last year because the local residents did not notice these things.
32. HUNTER WALKER - It takes a lot to be noticed for poor reporting at Rolling Stone, but Walker managed to stand out with his obsessive coverage of the January 6 riot, delivering a number of bombshell reports which never detonated. In one, Walker breaks open the story of organizers who used burner phones. And…" There was no evidence the Kremers and the other rally organizers encouraged or planned violence in the group-text messages reviewed by Rolling Stone."
31. AMY SISKIND - Just after a meeting with press leaders on how to dress up Biden's economy, Amy promptly spewed out a series of inaccurate data. She promotes the idea of an Underground Railroad for abortions. She complained to Twitter about disinformation on an account that only posted her full tweets. Claimed uneducated women voted against the marshmallow-white Terry McAuliffe because of racism.
30. JUSTIN BARAGONA - The Daily Beast media watcher has a Stelter-like intensity when it comes to Fox News. He was upset over a graphic seen on "Gutfeld!" that was blatantly a joke. He claimed Tucker had doxxed Don Lemon by highlighting his home and his city – information Tucker got from a one-year-old magazine profile interview. He accused Tucker's producers of adding cartoon googly eyes to an image of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that was actually an undoctored photo.
29. DANIEL DALE - CNN's resident fact-checker does yeoman's work trying to spin his brand of truth-telling to favor Biden. He admitted he would not be as diligent in checking on Biden. In addressing the fake Rolling Stone story of Ivermectin poisonings overrunning hospitals, Dale also cited conservative news outlets – for noticing. He assessed Biden's 100 days and used a bevy of euphemisms to avoid saying the word "lie." When Biden claimed during a town hall that he had visited the border this year, Dale laughably was content to agree when The Washington Post found he drove nearby in 2008.
28. PHILIP BUMP - The slanted WaPo scribe breathlessly pimped out a piece claiming that finally the Russian collusion story was proven – though deep in the piece he listed specifically how it was not proven. He went full Ian Millhiser and attempted to claim one-third of the Supreme Court was not valid. He raved about Biden's Covid relief bill and was unaware his own paper had detailed how it would never work. He tried mocking Peter Doocy for being the only reporter to ask Jen Psaki tough questions.
27. IAN MILLHISER - The resident Vox SCOTUS correspondent shows he has fierce antagonism to how the Court operates – and the Constitution. He could rank higher, except he is completely inept at his job. He blamed one ruling on conservatives, in what was a unanimous decision. He suggests raising taxes on the unvaccinated. He spends quite a bit of time proving his ignorance about how the Senate is set up.
26. JAKE TAPPER - The once reasonable voice at CNN has become intemperate since Trump left. He declared he would no longer have election deniers on his shows – Stacey Abrams apparently being an exception. In a report on the death of Gabby Petito, Jake mentions how missing people of color do not garner as much attention. He was willing to continue claiming Officer Brian Sicknick was murdered.