CBS News veteran Jan Crawford usually has the tricky task of covering the U.S. Supreme Court and how its decisions affect American life and politics. On Sunday, however, it was Crawford who was on trial.
Crawford, who joined CBS News in 2009, released a memo following a town hall meeting Saturday night in Michigan in which Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed got into a conversation with a young man named Tommy who asked him if he would “disavow the Muslim Brotherhood.” The politician won the approval of liberals on social media by discussing the right to religious freedom held by Americans under the U.S. Constitution.
Crawford saw something different. In her post, she said El-Sayed spent only a “nanosecond” disavowing, then launched into a “three-minute non-stop rant” that proved the interrogator’s “correct point.” She called the exchange “the kind of spectacular self-show that most people only dream of triggering” and offered a “congratulations.”
By Sunday afternoon, Crawford had deleted the post. “Earlier, I tweeted a video of a town hall by Abdul El-Sayed,” she said. “I removed this tweet because it violated CBS News standards. I apologize.”
CBS News declined to make executives available for comment.
Crawford has walked over difficult terrain in recent years. She is known for her comments, sometimes in public, sometimes during internal communications or meetings. Such behavior is generally frowned upon by most major news organizations, who want their journalists to be seen as neutral chroniclers of the topics and institutions to which they are assigned. Indeed, Disney’s ABC News opted not to renew longtime anchor and correspondent Terry Moran’s contract in June 2025 after he called Trump administration official Stephen Miller a “world-class hater” in a social media post.
The Crawford controversy comes as CBS News has embraced more opinions under Bari Weiss, a digital entrepreneur who was named editor-in-chief of Operation Skydance in 2025. Weiss, who founded the provocative site The Free Press, brought it with her to CBS News, and some CBS News staffers wrote for the site. Ross Douthat, a former conservative New York Times opinion editor who was named a correspondent for “60 Minutes,” recently launched a column he plans to produce for that bustling digital operation.
Crawford is a longtime journalist, who earlier in her career worked on legal affairs for the Chicago Tribune after graduating from the University of Chicago Law School. She also contributed analysis to what is now PBS NewsHour and has also worked for ABC News.
In April, Weiss said Variety she was looking for people who could wear multiple hats at CBS News. “The kind of talent we are looking for are amphibious people. They are able, yes, to read a teleprompter when necessary, but also to conduct man-on-the-street interviews, to speak fluently in an informal podcast, to write clearly and crisply,” she said. “Frankly, what we’re asking of talent in 2026 is a lot. It’s special. And that’s not what has been historically typical. But there are people capable of doing it. We will always be hungry for these people, wherever they are, whether they are inside CBS or outside.
The attention to Crawford’s remarks comes as CBS News tries to move forward after a series of surprising developments, including Weiss’ overhaul of “60 Minutes,” whose ratings this season have been under constant scrutiny. The news division recently saw new momentum at “CBS Evening News,” where the overall audience watching anchor Tony Dokoupil remained above 4 million for two consecutive weeks, and is making notable changes to “CBS Mornings,” where Norah O’Donnell joined the main on-air team.
But the news division is also grappling with its recent handling of reporting on conflicts in the Middle East. A “60 Minutes” report from area correspondent Lesley Stahl sparked arguments between her and Weiss, according to a person familiar with the matter. And Shayndi Raice, CBS News’ foreign affairs editor, chastised in a meeting last week some journalists working under her direction for resisting changes to their work made by senior staff and said that withholding direction — typical in many newsrooms when reporters on the ground compete with recommendations made by editors — could be considered insubordination. Raice’s comments came after she requested that a report by veteran Holly Williams be edited for broadcast on a later program, and were made available via audio recording by the Status media newsletter and confirmed by two people familiar with the matter, one of whom noted that much of the CBS News staff remains turned off by the idea that questioning editorial direction could be considered a punishable offense.
Crawford may have to decide whether she wants to stay at CBS News and continue reporting on the stories that arise there, or whether she wants to continue her commentary, in which case she could go the way of ABC News’ Moran. In April, the journalist launched his own website as well as a digital telephone show. Both allow him to speak his mind without having to worry about whether doing so would undermine the credibility of the traditional news organization he works for.
Gn usa
