CNN anchor Abby Phillip fired back at Keith Olbermann on Wednesday morning, calling the ex-MSNBC star a “nasty social media troll” who has become irrelevant after he described her as an “absolute disaster” as a primetime host.
The social media kerfuffle between the two began after Olbermann took issue with Phillip’s analysis of the New Hampshire primary results. The CNN star came under fire from supporters of President Joe Biden when she praised GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley’s remarks about the advanced age of the two major parties’ frontrunners.
“As Nikki Haley put it—I think it’s actually such a smart way to put it—maybe the first party to let go of their 80-year-old [candidate] might be the victor, but who’s gonna be the one to move first?” Phillip noted after Haley delivered her second-place speech on Tuesday, adding: “Nobody wants Trump, nobody wants Biden.”
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The president was not on New Hampshire’s ballot and won roughly 70 percent of Democratic primary votes via a write-in campaign, and liberals blasted Phillip for claiming “nobody wants Biden, calling it “100% both-sides bullshit” and “ageism.” Olbermann, however, took it several steps further.
“CNN has to address the reality that @abbydphillip has been an absolute disaster and that this foot-in-mouth editorial is the first thing she's gotten noticed for since her show debuted,” the former ESPN sportscaster turned progressive firebrand tweeted Tuesday night.
Phillip, who joined CNN in 2017 and launched her weeknight program last year, returned serve the next morning. And she made sure to reference Olbermann’s bridge-burning media career in her response.
“Or, you can come to terms with the reality of your irrelevance and stop being a nasty social media troll. But that’s entirely up to you,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
While not responding directly to Phillip’s response, Olbermann did fire back at White House reporter Andrew Feinberg, who wondered if the ex-MSNBC host was “just bitter about your own defenestration from prime-time cable” while defending Phillip.
“I see her bothsidesing Trump’s madness and Biden’s age and it’s disqualifying. If you don’t see it, you’re part of the problem too,” Olbermann posted. “Also: do a little research about somebody leaving an industry that punishes ethics before throwing around words like ‘defenestration,’ moron.”
Once one of the most recognizable faces in cable news, Olbermann abruptly parted ways with MSNBC in January 2011 amid a clash with network executives. The dramatic divorce came after an eight-year primetime run that helped shape MSNBC’s liberal voice, along with the rise of current top star Rachel Maddow.
Since his departure from cable news more than a decade ago, Olbermann returned to ESPN for a couple of brief stints and launched a GQ web series that lasted a year before he announced he was quitting political commentary in 2017.
That retirement did not last, however, as Olbermann began a new political podcast in 2022 that largely copies his old MSNBC show’s format—all the way down to the title. Interestingly, he kicked off this latest project after he told The Daily Beast that MSNBC nearly brought him back to fill the void left by Maddow’s program transitioning to a weekly broadcast—only for Maddow to kill the deal.
