CBS News’ Margaret Brennan Under Fire for ‘Hostile’ Interview With Hakeem Jeffries

Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan is facing backlash for what many viewers described as a “hostile” interview with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday (October 26).

On Sunday’s edition of CBS News’ Face the Nation, Brennan fired questions at Jeffries about redistricting, gerrymandering, and his recent comments accusing President Donald Trump of “trying to rig the midterm elections.” She also noted that Jeffries previously slammed Trump for using similar language about the 2020 presidential election results.

“You said, ‘Democrats – there are no election deniers on our side of the aisle,’” Brennan said, per Mediaite. “You said that back in January. But recently, you’ve been using the term ‘rigged elections’ in reference to the upcoming midterms. Democrats were appalled when President Trump used language like that. How do you justify using that now? Doesn’t that undermine faith for voters you need to show up?”

Jeffries stuck to his guns, explaining the context of his argument. “I’ve been using that term in the context of Donald Trump’s unprecedented effort to gerrymander congressional maps in a partisan fashion all across the country in order to rig the midterm elections and deny the ability of the American people to actually decide who should be in the majority as it relates to the House of Representatives,” Jeffries stated.

The interview became heated when Brennan interrupted Jeffries, telling him, “You know Democrats are also going through gerrymandering and redistricting.” Brennan seemed to be referring to reports that Democrats are pushing for more House seats in California to counter Republican gains in Texas and other states.

“No, no. no!” Jeffries retorted. “Democrats are going to push back aggressively to make sure that we have fair maps across the country, not partisan gerrymandering, which Republicans have initiated in state after state after state.”

Scary.

After Bari Weiss’s takeover of CBS, Margaret Brennan sounds like a Newsmax host in this interview with Hakeem Jeffries. pic.twitter.com/C4gnUkgzOV

— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) October 26, 2025

Following the interview, viewers took to social media to criticize Brennan’s approach, with some wondering if it was a sign of things to come at CBS News since the appointment of new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.

“This is a hostile interview from Margaret Brennan, completely out of character,” wrote one X user. “Showing her bosses, Trump’s buddies on how hostile she can be to the Democratic Party and it’s leadership. A nasty interview.”

“Sounds like @margbrennan on @FaceTheNation is trying to impress her new boss. That didn’t take long,” said another. “We know who pulls her strings. Brennan’s overacting as the outraged interviewer is laughable. Take some acting classes Margaret. And try to find some integrity along the way.”

“The second Margaret Brennan shows up on my TV screen. I turned the channel. I’m actually even surprised she has a Democrat on her show, but clearly it was just to attack,” added another.

Another wrote, “Margaret Brennan’s attack on minority leader Jeffries was unprecedented. Unnecessary animosity behavior. Her bosses must have told her to get tough on dems or she needed to prove to her new bosses that she could tear down the democratic agenda.”

“The billionaires got to Margaret Brennan too. What a shame,” said one fan.

“This is the problem with Bari Weiss. You can’t “both sides” Trump ordering unprecedented mid-decade gerrymandering and Dems only trying to defend themselves. Many Dem states had outlawed gerrymandering in good faith,” another added. “Margaret Brennan should resign and maintain her dignity.”

“Margaret Brennan sounds like she is about to cry spewing the right wing script her new boss is surely dictating. She has a choice though, and she chose wrong. Darn shame she was one of the good ones,” another stated.

However, not everyone agreed, with one X user writing, “You mean Margaret Brennan isn’t giving a softball interview to Dollar Tree Obama? Actual journalism is returning to CBS it appears.”

“Honestly, Democrats are just used to having the media on their side — soft questions, friendly tone, no real pushback. Now that Bari Weiss took over at CBS and the tone’s changed to honesty, you can even see anchors like Margaret Brennan sounding more neutral, even skeptical,” said another.

Another added, “Refreshing. After Bari Weiss’s takeover of CBS, Margaret Brennan sounds like the old CBS who asks all guests hard questions. Imagine that a Democrat not being asked about his ice cream preferences?”