Wolf Blitzer Wishes Emotional Farewell to Gloria Borger as She Exits CNN After 17 Years

Wolf Blitzer bid an emotional farewell to Gloria Borger as the CNN senior political analyst left the cable news channel after 17 years. At the end of the Thursday, Dec. 19 broadcast of The Situation Room, Blitzer took a moment to show his appreciation for Borger and highlight her many contributions over the years.

“Everybody stand back for a moment. I want to have a special moment right now to say, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,’ to our Gloria Borger,” Blitzer said. “Seventeen years here at CNN. This is going to be your last week here at CNN. You’re getting ready to move on, and we want to wish you only the very best.”

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During the emotional moment, Blitzer also aired a clip from Borger’s first appearance on his show from September 13, 2007. In the clip, Borger and Blitzer discussed George W. Bush and his plans for the war in Iraq.

“You and I go way back, in fact, your first appearance on CNN was right here in The Situation Room,” he said. “Gloria, I speak for all of our viewers here in the United States and indeed, around the world, when I say, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Reacting to the farewell, Borger replied, “It’s been pure joy. It’s been a great 17 years. I’ve worked with the best people in the business [and] the best journalists in the business. It’s been a great pleasure. I’m going to really miss the place, but I’m going to be CNN’s biggest fan, and I’ll be rooting for everyone from the sidelines.”

Borger is a long-time CNN personality, having first joined the cable news channel in 2007 after previously working as CBS News’ national political correspondent and a contributor to CBS’s Face the Nation, among others, and co-anchoring CNBC’s Capital Report. She had previously been CNN’s chief political analyst and a prominent figure during its election coverage, and was part of the CNN teams that won a Peabody Award and an Emmy for the network’s presidential election coverage in 2008 and 2012, per HuffPost. She also made regular appearances on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper’s AC360.

After 17 years at the channel, however, news surfaced on Dec. 18 that Borger was poised to depart CNN. CNN did not provide a reason for her departure, though it comes after Borger scaled back her appearances in recent years,

Borger is the latest high-profile CNN personality to depart the cable news channel, and her exit came just a week after longtime CNN host Alisyn Camerota announced that she would be leaving the network after 10 years. The network has also cut ties with veteran Chris Wallace. The departures come after CEO Mark Thompson a shifting business strategy that will result in approximately 100 employees, or about 3% of the workforce, losing their jobs.