Katie Couric faces backlash from Jeopardy's 'conservative' audience over 'cult of Trump' comments

Katie Couric recently sounded off on Donald Trump’s impeachment and Twitter ban, before the one-term president left office.

And the acclaimed journalist is now facing backlash from the mostly ‘conservative’ audience of Jeopardy!, ahead of her guest hosting gig.

It came after she appeared on the first 2021 episode of Real Time with Bill Maher last week, where they discussed extremist beliefs in Congress, following the riot at the Capitol earlier this month.

The 64-year-old told Maher: ‘It’s really bizarre, isn’t it, when you think about how AWOL so many of these members of Congress have gotten. 

‘But I also think some of them are believing the garbage that they are being fed 24/7 on the internet, by their constituents, and they bought into this big lie.’

She continued: ‘And the question is how are we going to really almost deprogram these people who have signed up for the cult of Trump.’

Couric’s comments have reportedly worried the producers of Jeopardy!, where she’s preparing for a week-long guest hosting gig, making her the first woman to lead the game show.

With an audience whose average age is 64.2 years old, the demographic has traditionally skewed conservative, and the show has made an effort to avoid politics.

A source told Page Six: ‘Katie’s comments so soon after she was announced as a host are very concerning to the producers. They are worried there will be a backlash against her. There has already been some complaints.

‘Jeopardy viewers are quite a traditional bunch, and there’s fears she might be too polarizing after this. At the very least, she already appears to have ruled herself out of becoming the permanent host of the show.’      

Fox News contributor Joe Concha, who’s firmly positioned himself against ‘cancel culture’, has recently spoken out against Couric.

He argued: ‘This sort of rhetoric from Couric — which comes across as so condescending and elitist — underscores the divide between our media, which primarily resides in New York and Washington, and the rest of the country, which is moderate to center-right per multiple polls. And it’s why the industry is so mistrusted and frowned upon.’

Following the death of beloved host Alex Trebek back in November, the show is taking on a series of guest hosts, including Mayim Bialik and Aaron Rodgers.   

Trebek has commented on the need to be unoffensive in the past, telling Vulture in November of 2018: ‘But one reason why a host can succeed for a long time is by not offending. You saw it with Johnny Carson. He was bright enough to cover almost any potentially offensive moment with his wit.’

Granted, he made his opinion about Trump known in the same interview: ‘I wouldn’t say that [Trump] makes jokes. He picks on people.’

The Canadian gem also theorized on Trump’s chances as a contestant: ‘He might not agree that any of the correct responses are correct.’

Ken Jennings, 46, the record-holder for the show’s longest winning streak, has also been serving as a guest host on Jeopardy!, and he’s the rumored frontrunner to permanently fill the position. 

He previously took to Twitter with an ambiguous apology for past statements that might have offended his followers, which some took for a smart move in securing his spot on the show.

The Planet Funny author has been known to make a joke or two about Tru
mp, including once after comedienne Kathy Griffin posed for a now infamous 2017 photo with a fake severed head featuring the disgraced president’s likeness.

Jennings jokingly commented about reports that Trump’s youngest son Barron, now 14, saw the photo and thought it was real: ‘Barron saw a very long necktie and a heap of expired deli meat in a dumpster. He thought it was his dad & his little heart is breaking.’ 

The Page Six source added: ‘Ken Jennings apologizes for a tweet he posted nearly four years ago, weeks before hosting Jeopardy! Katie will be under huge pressure to apologize also. Time will tell if she does, but Jeopardy! producers are expecting her to be a diva about it.’