Right-Wing ‘60 Minutes’ Hire Debuts With Startling TV Message

CBS 60 Minutes’ new conservative hire ended the show’s season opener with a nod to its controversial changes during a startling warning to viewers.

Ross Douthat, 46, was hired by MAGA-coded CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, despite not having any TV experience.

Douthat, a conservative and devout Catholic, spent 17 years as an opinion columnist for The New York Times.

His book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious , was released last year.

Douthat’s debut on Sunday’s 59th season launch episode saw him appear in the closing segment, “The Last Minute.” In it, he warned viewers of the immediate threat posed by AI, citing a former Anthropic employee who quit the tech company and said artificial intelligence could wipe out humanity within a decade.

“You don’t have to believe that prophecy,” Douthat said in his segment, but said the “narrow window” required to ensure AI is safe for humanity is needed this year, not in the next decade.

But it was one of his closing lines that raised eyebrows online.

“That clock is ticking, and so is ours,” Douthat said, as the show’s trademark ticking sound effect aired under him.

“For almost 60 years, it has meant the same thing.

Journalism you can trust.

Where we’re headed, we’re going to need it.” The statement was pointed out by CNN’s media analyst Brian Stelter in a post on X .

The Daily Beast has contacted CBS for comment.

The line was the only reference to the show’s controversial changes in the lead-up to the newest season.

Weiss oversaw a major overhaul of 60 Minutes , which led to an exodus of anchors and producers who cited the show’s attempt to please the Trump administration.