CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip, known around these parts as the Thunderdome, found a way to make itself even more grating and offputting to its viewers. The show is now closing by compelling panelists to engage in ritual self-humiliation via public reading of mean tweets solicited from the audience. But the show’s eponymous host is spared from this exercise.
Watch the “viewer feedback” segment as aired on CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip on Tuesday, April 29th, 2026:
WATCH: In lieu of the traditional nightcap segment to close out CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, panelists are now asked to ritually self-humiliate by reading awful posts from the audience. pic.twitter.com/2m6GnmIyyS
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) April 29, 2026
ABBY PHILLIP: We’re going to end tonight with some real time viewer feedback. Joe, you're up first.
JOE BORELLI: Oh, there's not a screen yet? Put it on the screen. “Come on, man. Seashells? What's next? Driftwood from Uranus?” That wasn’t that bad.
PHILLIP: Oh, god.
BORELLI: That wasn't too bad. “Did you have 5 or 6 buckets of chicken today? Idiot.”
PHILLIP: Oh, your fans are mean.
CHUCK ROCHA: Mean- they’re mean.
BORELLI: I love my fans.
PHILLIP: All right, Chuck.
Push it back. I can't see all the way over there.
ROCHA: Push it back. I can't see all the way over there.
(CROSSTALK)
ROCHA: I don't see no tweets, but oh, here we go. “Sorry Chuck, anyone who wears a stupid cowboy hat in the studio will never be taken seriously. You appear to be a clown. Save it for the ranch.” Look, if you knew how much I like to break the rules, brother, you have no idea. Wearing a hat inside ain't nothing.
PHILLIP: Kmele?
KMELE FOSTER: Exceedingly un-American. Yes, what do we got here? “What's with the guy wearing a baseball hat and a cowboy hat on the show?
ROCHA: Get their ass. Get their ass.
FOSTER: Wow. I mean, honestly --
PHILLIP: Huge anti-hat crowd.
ROCHA: Yeah. Yeah.
FOSTER: Yes. And erroneous.
PHILLIP: All right, Lydia.
LYDIA MOYNIHAN: Uh- moment of truth. “Honestly, Abby Phillip, do you go out of your way to have incredibly ignorant morons on your show?” People, ding ding ding.
PHILLIP: My final word is everyone just be a little nicer, and thank you very much for watching.
The show sometimes used to close out with the “Nightcap”, which for the most part consisted of Phillip asking her panelists what thing or social custom they’d either like to ban or bring back. The purpose of such a segment is purportedly to end the show on a lighter note after the panelists have been going at each other and, if you are a conservative, being constantly interrupted and/or gaslit by Phillip.
The Nightcap isn’t the greatest, but it does accomplish its intended forced levity before Phillip tosses to Laura Coates. It is unclear what “Viewer Feedback” seeks to accomplish beyond denigrating the panel that has just given you the better part of an hour.
This is particularly true if the host seeks to exempt herself from the “Viewer Feedback.” A prior segment was cut for time so it was just Joe Borelli reading viewer hate and Phillip reading a mild correction regarding an idiom. This time, everyone except for Phillip had to read some nasty tweet.
It’s not for lack of criticism, either. There is no shortage of “viewer feedback” after any given NewsNight. My X feed (as well as that of our own Curtis Houck) can attest to that. If Phillip isn’t going to read harshly critical tweets as the panel did, then the segment shouldn’t continue to run. If you can’t find something useful to do with that minute and a half, then do a long throw to Coates or make the Night Cap more interesting. Either alternative is better than having only the panel read dumb tweets under Abby Phillip’s approving gaze.
