Former 'Liberal Hack' champions Jennifer Rubin, Brian Stelter to enter epic rematch for 2022 tournament title
Both Stelter and Rubin have reached "Hack" superstardom, but only one will be crowned the 2022 champion
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It may go down as the most dramatic championship in the history of the "Liberal Hack Tournament."
Two "Liberal Hack" legends, defending champion Jennifer "The Kween" Rubin and first-ever heavyweight champion Brian "The Tater" Stelter, will enter the ring as No. 1 seeds for the final match of the 2022 contest. Only one will come out alive.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Stelter has given a Herculean performance from the beginning of this year's tournament, crushing Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent, CNN colleagues Jim Acosta and Don Lemon as well as The Bulwark editor-at-large Bill Kristol in the Fake News division championship before coming face-to-face with Lincoln Project co-founder and Confederate flag cooler-owning rock star Rick Wilson.
CNN's Brian Stelter has destroyed the competition throughout the tournament earning no less than 70% of the Twitter vote in each round. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for WarnerMedia) (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for WarnerMedia)
Wilson, a tournament rookie as a No. 6 seed, had far exceeded expectations, eliminating powerhouses like ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl, "Radio Free" Tom Nichols, CNN contributor Ana Navarro and defeating No. 1 seed Matthew Dowd in an Elite Eight slugfest.
But perhaps his dreams of becoming the ultimate "Liberal Hack" were as adolescent as the Lincoln Project's targeted demographic. Wilson fell short earning just 26% of the Twitter vote against Stelter's behemoth 74%.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}2021 was a rough year for the disgraced anti-Trump PAC but a silver lining for Wilson's phenomenal debut in the "Liberal Hack Tournament" is that it gave the Lincoln Project, which has been soul-searching ever since Donald Trump left office, a new purpose, a reason to exist. Wilson and his colleagues at the Lincoln Project saw this week that if Louis C.K. can still win a Grammy, then anything's possible.
It all comes down to Brian Stelter and Jennifer Rubin in this year's #HackMadness. (Ruthless Podcast)
Like Stelter, Jennifer Rubin bulldozed through her competitors. Daily Beast columnist Wajahat Ali, Stelter's sidekick Oliver Darcy, Keith Olbermann and "The View" co-host Joy Behar simply could not stand a chance against the "Liberal Hack" royal, who now has three consecutive Liberal Activists division championships under her belt. But her fiercest competitor was definitely her Final Four challenger, MSNBC star Joy Reid.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Reid did not go down without a fight. Making history as the first Black competitor of all gender identities to reach the Final Four, Reid was hoping that her overwhelming presence both on television and on Twitter would carry her through the tournament, but she was outmatched by Rubin's cult following by a 59-41 margin. Rubin's viral column in the Washington Post declaring President Biden's economic performance would be "unmatched" if it "weren't for inflation" just hours before voting began truly set the table for her clash with Reid.
The deep-seated rivalry between Brian Stelter and Jennifer Rubin mounts to famed rivalries between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, Rocky and Apollo, even Kanye West and Pete Davidson.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN's left-wing media guru clashed with the MSNBC contributor in the 2020 championship with Stelter getting the best of Rubin to become the first-ever "Liberal Hack" champion. But in 2021, Rubin evened the score by defeating Stelter in the Final Four and later crushed then-embattled CNN anchor Chris Cuomo in the final, shattering the glass ceiling as the first woman to win the tournament.
Washington Post columnist and defending "Liberal Hack Tournament" champion Jennifer Rubin is hoping to make history with two consecutive championships under her belt. (Photo by: William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Both Stelter and Rubin have impressive portfolios. Stelter spent much of the past year playing CNN's de facto spokesman as his network was plagued by scandals from Jeffrey Toobin's ham-handed resurrection on its airwaves, Chris Cuomo's downfall, to the ousting of his boss Jeff Zucker all while turning a blind eye on other media controversies.
Rubin, on the other hand, continues to be a "Hack" all-star with her unrelenting cheerleading for President Biden while betraying every principle she once held as a "conservative."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
The NCAA is breathing a sigh of relief because it would be tough to follow what may be regarded as the greatest championship game of all time.
Voting in the championship round will launch Wednesday afternoon by "Ruthless" co-host Comfortably Smug and will conclude 24 hours later. The viral contest is presented by the "Ruthless" podcast.