CBS Reportedly Knew Tony Dokoupil Couldn’t ‘Survive the Fallout’ From President Trump’s ‘60 Minutes’ Interview

CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil reportedly wanted to be the one to interview President Donald Trump after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, and he was allegedly “furious” when the job went to Norah O’Donnell instead.

However, according to Rob Shuter’s Naughty But Nice Substack, there was a reason Dokoupil, 45, didn’t get the sit-down.

“[CBS] knew Trump could explode,” a source told Naughty But Nice on Tuesday, April 28. “Norah could handle it. Tony could not.”

During Trump’s interview on 60 Minutes that aired Sunday, April 26, O’Donnell, 52, read the manifesto allegedly written by the suspected gunman before the shooting took place.

In the piece, the author wrote that he was “no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” but the former reality star, 79, became enraged when O’Donnell read the words aloud.

Trump called O’Donnell “horrible” and a “disgrace” as he berated her during the clip. That’s something CBS reportedly wanted to “protect” Dokoupil from, according to a separate source.

“She can take a punch and keep going,” another source added. “Tony takes it personally. He might have burst out crying.”

A fourth source explained, “He wanted the headline. CBS knew he could not survive the fallout.”

On Saturday, April 25, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, allegedly rushed a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. He exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officials before he was tackled and handcuffed. Trump, along with wife Melania and several other members of the administration were quickly whisked out of the room. No one was injured during the incident.

As Globe previously reported, Allen has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president.