Worst Jeopardy! Flubs of the Week by Journalists

Brent Baker
May 21st, 2016 8:50 PM
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“Clueless for $400.” This past week Jeopardy! aired its “Power Players” shows recorded in Washington, DC back on Saturday, April 9. Viewers were treated to some embarrassing moments for several prominent journalists, including CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Kate Bolduan, who were seemingly ill-informed about relatively recent events in the news.

The video below shows five of the biggest flubs, focused just on current events/recent history questions it’s reasonable to expect a journalist to be knowledgeable about.

> CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, and fellow contestants Lara Logan of CBS News and former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, were unable to identify the Soviet leader whose name means “Man of Steel.”  

> The three were also unable to name Colin Powell as the correct answer as Cooper incorrectly offered up Alexander Haig.

> The next night, Washington Post editorial writer and MSNBC commentator Jonathan Capehart came up blank, as did fellow contestants comedian Louie CK and CNN anchor Kate Bolduan, when asked to name Rush Limbaugh’s hometown. The category: “I Heart Capes.” The clue: “This ‘cape’ city in southeastern Missouri is the hometown of Rush Limbaugh.” The inability to name Cape Girardeau likely reflects what little interest any of them have in the leading conservative media figure.

> The “Final Jeopardy!” question that night asked for the “longest-tenured justice” on the Supreme Court. CNN’s Bolduan named “Souter.” David Souter retired in 2009.

> The “Final Jeopardy!” the next night tripped up ABC News legal analyst Sunny Hostin. Question: “In 2013, President Obama was sworn in on 2 Bibles – one was Lincoln’s and one belonged to this man who died 103 years after Lincoln.” She answered: “JFK.”

Also, on the last show of the week, aired on Friday, May 20, former MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry used the trivia program to push her far-left political agenda: