ABC News names Benitez ‘GMA’ weekend co-anchor

ABC News President Kim Godwin announced Thursday that the Disney-owned network had named openly gay Gio Benitez, 37, as the permanent weekend co-anchor for the Good Morning America’s Saturday and Sunday Broadcasts.

Benitez joins current co-anchors Whit Johnson and Janai Norman. He has been ABC News’ transportation correspondent since 2020, covering aviation during the industry’s near-total collapse in the pandemic and space at the onset of America’s private space race, plus the auto industry and railroads.

Since joining ABC News in 2013, Gio has notably covered the Pulse nightclub shooting, El Chapo’s underground escape from a Mexican prison and the Boston Marathon bombing. He has a long history of breaking exclusive investigative stories, and some of these investigations have led to important safety recalls.

Before joining ABC News in 2013, he was a reporter for WFOR-TV in Miami.

FROM STAFF REPORTS