Fans Agree David Muir Has One Major Thing In Common With Potential Rival Tom Llamas

Rumor has it that ABC's David Muir feels threatened by NBC's Tom Llamas' growing popularity with nightly news audiences. Regardless of whether this holds any water or not (more on this later), some believe they are actually more similar than meets the eye — or rather, their similarities strongly meet the eye. For many, Muir and Llamas' shared dark-haired, dark-eyed good looks are hard to ignore. "Good to see a couple guys with amazing hair and jawlines catching a break in TV," journalist Jason DeRusha wrote on X in March 2025, when Llamas replaced Lester Holt as anchor of "NBC Nightly News."

DeRusha isn't the first to take note of Llamas and Muir's swoon-worthy looks. Back during the COVID-19 pandemic, years before they became competitors, netizens were already drawing comparisons. "Since we're all glued to the TV right now can we just talk about how Tom Llamas, Gio Benitez, and David Muir can like ... GET it," an X user wrote in 2020, referring to the ABC colleague whom Muir was once rumored to have romanced (though there's no evidence of it).

While many agree that they are both pretty handsome, some believe their looks play against them. "Both he and David Muir seem like they love their own image in the mirror a little too much," a Reddit user argued. Even those who aren't fans of either nightly news anchor seemed to note just how well-endowed they were in the hair department. "Bunch of goddamned hairdos without a lick of journalistic cred," another Redditor slammed. While their anchoring skills may not be everyone's cup of tea, Muir and Llamas' good looks appear to be a consensus.

Okay, David Muir and Tom Llamas' handsomeness is well-established, but are the two men locked in a behind-the-scenes feud? Many believe so. And some insiders contend Llamas' rising popularity hasn't just hit Muir's ego, having become a real concern for his network. "Everyone at ABC is watching 'Nightly News' very closely because Tom Llamas has the momentum, and right now NBC is dictating the game while ABC is playing defense," a source told the Daily Mail in July 2026.

Others, however, dismiss speculation that Muir is worried about Llamas — or any other news anchor, for that matter. "Muir just climbed to the top of the Statue of Liberty, 305 feet to the torch, for a 24-hour broadcast on America's 250th anniversary. Where are the other guys?" another insider argued. But earlier reports claimed that Muir took Llamas' ascension very seriously. So seriously that some believe he attempted to tarnish his competitor's reputation. A few months after Llamas took over Lester Holt's seat, resurfaced news of his 2001 arrest during his senior years at Loyola University New Orleans reportedly caused an institutional crisis at NBC.

Some insiders believed Muir was behind it. "Tom is surging in the demo ratings. Suddenly this story drops? Come on — it smells like sabotage," a source told Rob Shuter in September 2025. "And who better positioned than David's team? They know all the secrets." According to the sources, Muir knows quite a bit about Llamas from when the latter worked at ABC between 2014 and 2021. "Tom overshared back then — personal stuff, ego stuff," another source revealed. Whether any of this is true is impossible to tell.