As ABC News covers the highly consequential 2022 midterm elections on Tuesday evening, its live desk will feature a notable absence: George Stephanopoulos.
ABC’s top political anchor and host of both Good Morning America and This Week will not spearhead or be involved in the broadcast network’s night-of coverage after leading it in both 2018 and 2020, a press release indicated last week. Election night coverage will instead be led by World News Tonight anchor David Muir.
The change has left some ABC News staffers baffled, with several noting to The Daily Beast how Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton White House senior adviser and longtime political pundit, is considered among the most famous political journalists on TV.
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Furthermore, Stephanopoulos’ absence appears to represent a victory for Muir in a long-standing, behind-the-scenes feud between the rival ABC News stars.
Asked for comment on his notable absence from the ABC News election night desk, Stephanopoulos told The Daily Beast on Tuesday afternoon that he “signed a new deal and that’s what I’m focused on.” He declined to comment further when asked if his absence was at all related to Muir. Neither ABC News nor Muir responded to a request for comment.
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This shift at ABC comes amid a reportedly bitter back-and-forth between the two top anchors at the Disney-owned news arm. Stephanopoulos reportedly threatened to leave for a rival network last year over tensions with Muir. CNN reported that ABC was so eager to appease Stephanopoulos that then-Disney chairman Bob Iger and fellow Disney exec Peter Rice personally flew out from Burbank to New York to offer him a lucrative contract extension and keep the peace.
The spat revolved around the “chief anchor” title, which Stephanopoulos had previously held. With that title, and despite Muir’s ever-increasing role in anchoring ABC’s news coverage, Stephanopoulos led the outlet’s special events coverage, including the 2018 and 2020 elections, while Muir focused on hosting World News Tonight.
According to CNN, after Stephanopoulos eventually gave up the title, he was angered to find out Muir also took over special reports alongside his nightly news position, effectively serving as “chief anchor” in all but name.
To prevent Stephanopoulos from alleging a breach of contract and leaving the network, ABC gave him the lucrative new deal along with breaking news coverage duties and a new production company. Muir inherited the special coverage duties, such as helming the 2022 election night coverage.
Such shifts in duties are not unusual at news networks, of course. CNN has made a public spectacle of passing the torch to Jake Tapper from longtime election-night fixture Wolf Blitzer, who will not anchor the cable outlet’s election desk for the first time since 2004.
ABC has been much quieter about its changing of the guard. The network’s sole mention of Stephanopoulos came in the tenth paragraph of its 11-paragraph press release, where it noted his involvement in ABC’s “Power Trip” docuseries.
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