Family Feud! Mediaite Rings in Thanksgiving With Our 5 Favorite Fighting Cable News Rivals

Ah, Thanksgiving. Increasingly, it’s a day which has become known for loved ones getting together — not only for turkey and pumpkin pie — but for fierce debates about news and politics.

But here at Mediaite, we spend 365 days a year watching cable news families air their disagreements live on national television in throughly entertaining fashion. So we thought we’d mark this special occasion with a tribute to five of our favorite cable news family feuds. These are rivals who regularly appear on the same show and frequently throw down with each other.

Without further ado, pass the stuffing and pour the cider. It’s time to celebrate some fighting cable news families!

5. Ana Navarro and Steve Cortes —— CNN

Though it has become more infrequent in recent months, this pairing has produced plenty of fireworks. Navarro, an anti-Trump GOP strategist, and Cortes, one of CNN’s most prominent Trump surrogates, see eye to eye on almost nothing. And moreover, they seem to truly have a disdain for one another.

That contempt bubbled over in this memorable January segment on Cuomo Prime Time — in which Navarro actually filed her nails on the air, in an effort to show utter disregard for Cortes during a heated debate on immigration.

“You can do your nails,” Cortes told Navarro. “You know who can’t do their nails are people who have been killed, Ana, by dangerous known illegal aliens who have been allowed to stay in this country because of the leftist policies that people like you promote in so-called sanctuary cities.”

“I’m so tired of you calling me leftist already just because you want to compromise your values!” Navarro said.

“I don’t care if you’re tired of it!” Cortes replied. “Go back to filing your nails.”

“I don’t care what you call me!” Navarro fired back. “To me, you’re as irrelevant as Donald Trump Jr.”

4. Sean Hannity and Geraldo Rivera (and Dan Bongino) — Fox News’s Hannity

These days, seldom is a dissenting voice heard on Hannity — a program which constantly promotes the positions of President Donald Trump. So it is a refreshing change of pace when Geraldo Rivera stops by to offer a different perspective on the issues of the day.

This explosive debate on Joe Biden back in August was a standout. Hannity (with the help of his henchman Bongino) clashed with Geraldo on whether the former vice president is to blame for the activities of his son, Hunter Biden.

“Biden’s got a lot of other issues going on but you can’t blame Joe Biden for his brother James or his bad boy son,” Geraldo said.

“Of course he knows what’s going on, Geraldo!” Hannity shot back.

Bongino then jumped in.

“He plays this lunch bucket Joe image and he’s a corrupticrat like everyone else and you are giving him a pass because what you don’t have an ironclad smoking gun in front of you,” Bongino told Geraldo.

“That’s not fair,” Rivera shot back. “Joe Biden, what you know that I what do you know that the American people don’t know? Don’t vote for him if you don’t like him for various substantive reasons but he’s not dishonest. ”

“Get lost!” Bongino said. “This is ridiculous.”

Bongino, for once, was right. The discussion was ridiculous. Still, give us a hundred Geraldo segments on Hannity over the usual conspiracy-mongering from the likes of Gregg Jarrett or Jeanine Pirro.

3. Chris Cuomo and Matt Schlapp —— CNN

He guests on all three cable news networks with great frequency. But American Conservative Union chair and staunchly pro-Trump advocate Matt Schlapp’s appearances on CNN stand out — particularly when he drops by to spar with primetime host Chris Cuomo. (And let’s be honest: Would a list about cable news fighters be complete without Chris Cuomo?)

The pair memorably brawled back in August, when Cuomo asked Schlapp about why the president gave a phony excuse for skipping out on the G7 climate crisis meeting.

“I’m not going to condemn them for lying,” Schlapp said. “I don’t have any idea why he didn’t go to that meeting … Why do I get to be the person that determines whether someone else who speaks is lying or not?”

“They just lied!” Cuomo shot back, at which point Schlapp deflected again about the media’s “spin” about the meeting.

“I’m just saying, don’t lie!” Cuomo cried out, exasperated.

“I’m just saying, you shouldn’t get on your high horse about who’s lying and who’s not,” Schlapp said, after a tense back and forth. “I don’t have some kind of magical machine to know when someone’s lying or not lying,” he added.

Matt Schlapp can, seemingly, never be talked off of his positions. Chris Cuomo, though, will never stop trying. And that makes for some exciting collisions.

2. Greg Gutfeld and Juan Williams — Fox News’s The Five

Excluding primetime, The Five has become the highest-rated show in all of cable news. And a big part of the reason why is the intense rivalry between Williams, The Five’s lone Democratic voice, and Gutfeld, the show’s firebrand.

These two duke it out on a near-daily basis — often in a manner that leaves their three colleagues frozen on the sidelines, watching the pair do battle.

There are just so many Gutfeld-Williams throwdowns to choose from. But we’ve chosen this multi-segment February clash, following Michael Cohen’s testimony on Capitol Hill, as the one which best captures the Gutfeld-Williams dynamic.

“Are you guys ever going to let me finish?!” Williams said,

“No, because you’re always finishing! There’s somebody sitting there who hasn’t said a damn word!” Gutfeld replied — referring to guest panelist Morgan Ortagus.

After a tense back-and-forth, the conversation truly erupted when Williams accused Gutfeld and fellow panelist Jesse Watters of being in the tank for President Donald Trump.

“You are so blind because you, like Greg, are deep in the bunker!”

“If you say that again, I’m going to throw you off the set!” Gutfeld shot back.

1. Joy Behar and Meghan McCain — ABC’s The View

Yes, we know these two technically don’t qualify as a cable news duo. But The View, despite airing on network TV, unquestionably has the DNA of a cable news debate show.

Behar, a staunch progressive, and McCain, an anti-Trump conservative with some progressive positions, don’t quite disagree on everything. But seldom does a show pass without this tandem getting into a spirited battle over something.

As was the case with our second-place rivals Gutfeld and Williams, there was a treasure trove of material to choose from to sum up the Behar-McCain rivalry. But ultimately, we selected this episode from June in which an exasperated McCain lamented being The View’s “sacrificial Republican.”

“You know what, Joy, I come here every day open-minded just trying to explain it and it’s not a fun job for me,” McCain said. “I know you’re angry, I get that you’re angry that Trump’s president, but I don’t think yelling at me is going to fix the problem.”

“Am I yelling at her? Am I yelling?” Behar replied.

“Yes!” McCain said

Seconds later, moderator Whoopi Goldberg — as is so often the case — was forced to break up the skirmish.

“Okay, guys! Okay!” Goldberg said.

But McCain got one more shot in at Behar before the show went to break.

“Don’t feel bad for me, bitch,” McCain said. “I get paid to do this.”

Ultimately, though, when the show returned from commercial, both made it clear that there was no bad blood — saying that each refers to the other as bitch in their off-set communications, and both are comfortable with the term.

“Women can debate on TV in a spirited way without it being personal, and I know this is a big shock. We get along backstage,” McCain said.

“We’re both pugilistic,” Behar added. “It’s fine.”

And so it is for many families sitting around the table this Thanksgiving. They may argue, they may snap at each other, they may even use some choice language. But at the end of the day, like Joy Behar and Meghan McCain, they are family — if not by blood, then by network contract. And they share a bond that can never be broken. (Until contract negotiation time, anyway.)

From our entire Mediaite family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!