Why Is David Muir in Orlando? The ABC Reporter Has Locals Scratching Their Heads
"I thought maybe POTUS was on his way for some reason. But last night there all three of them were [here] ... weird."
Published March 13 2025, 12:01 p.m. ET
ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir is instantly recognizable. As one of the most famous and reliable anchors on television, David is trusted by millions to deliver the day's news and give measured takes on world events.
In 2024, he moderated the high-stakes presidential debate between former Vice President Kamala Harris and President Donald Trump.
So when David Muir comes to town, locals can expect that he's there for a good reason. He was spotted broadcasting near Orlando, Fla., on March 12, 2025, and it raised more than a few eyebrows. So why is David Muir in Orlando? Here's what we know about his reasons for broadcasting from Florida.
Why is David Muir in Orlando?
In many ways, David Muir is the Jim Cantore of news anchoring. Whenever celebrated meteorologist Jim Cantore appears in a town ahead of a hurricane, people assume that the storm will be heading their way and panic or prepare appropriately.
When David comes to town, it's time to figure out what the big story is about to be.
Such was the case in March 2025 for Orlando, Florida, area residents in the small community of Lake Eola.
On one Reddit thread, users speculated why he might have come to the area.
One user mused, "I was trying to figure it out too. The night before Mary Bruce their chief WH reporter was here. Then last night there was David Muir, Bruce was still here, and also Rachel Scott as well. When I first saw Mary Bruce the night before, I thought maybe POTUS was on his way for some reason since she usually follows him. But last night there all three of them were ... weird."
Others offered suggestions as well. But one user quickly supplied the likely reason, writing, "I think it's because of the SpaceX launch to bring home the astronauts from the Boeing Starliner mission. They have been up there a while."
And while you might expect David to stay in Cape Canaveral, closer to the expected launch site, the launch was scrubbed initially. This potentially gave David and his team a chance to explore some other local big news while they waited for a new launch time.
David covered the scrubbed launch and talked about the Starliner mission, so it seems reasonable to assume that he was in the general area to cover that major story.
Why have the astronauts been trapped in space for so long?
The big question is: Why is the world holding its breath waiting for some astronauts to return from space?
The astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, flew to space in June 2024 for what was supposed to be a week-long mission.
Unfortunately for them, there has been a perfect storm of failures that meant they have spent nearly a year aloft. SpaceX has organized plans to come retrieve them. Those plans, mentioned above, involved launching a rocket on March 12, 2025, to retrieve the stranded astronauts from space.
According to CBS, the rocket they used to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) belonged to Boeing, and the aviation and space exploration company has faced criticism for letting them languish for so long.
With the initial launch scrubbed, the astronauts were forced to settle in and wait some more. SpaceX announced that the earliest they could attempt another launch would be March 14, 2025. It's a nail-biting process, watching all the starts and stops.
Yet with luck and ingenuity, the wait won't be forever.