Geraldo Slams HLN's Nancy Grace...but Grace Posts Record Ratings

Well, you'll never be left guessing what Geraldo Rivera feels about a certain subject. True to form, the outspoken Fox News contributor shared his views with Shepard Smith Wednesday on the Casey Anthony verdict and "two-bit lawyers" like Mark NeJame.

In discussing Anthony's trial, Geraldo, who believed Anthony would not be convicted of murder in the first, was shocked to learn she wasn't even convicted of manslaugher. "It was an 'oh my god' moment," Geraldo said, "something no one expected." But he also came to the defense of Jose Baez, Anthony's defense attorney, who he believes did a good job and was "pilloried" and "persecuted" by "two-bit lawyers" like NeJame. NeJame, according to Geraldo, thought too highly of himself and strutted around "like Perry Mason."

Another lawyer, Nancy Grace, also drew Geraldo's ire for allegedly "exaggerating" the prosecution's evidence and "trivializing" any exculpatory evidence presented by the defense during trial.

But Geraldo's crusade against allegedly "biased" attorneys didn't end there when he then castigated "lanky" prosecutor Jeff Ashton -- who he said heckled Baez during his closing argument in the same way a pubic school "bully" would when trying to "upset the nerd's oral presentation" for his closing argument.

Geraldo went on to praise the fairness and "dignity" of the presiding judge, who he believes will retain Anthony in custody for her own protection until anger and tensions in her central Florida community subside. Geraldo said he can't imagine the judge will let Anthony go free with the "tsunami" of outrage that will surely be headed Anthony's way.

Still despite Geraldo's disapproval, Grace enjoyed her program's highest ratings ever during the Anthony verdict, with over 2.8 million viewers:

With 4.575M total viewers in the 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. hour, the Casey Anthony trial verdict propelled HLN to its best ratings ever yesterday afternoon. HLN peaked shortly after the verdict was read with 5.205M total viewers.

Nancy Grace posted her best-ever ratings in the 8 p.m. hour, delivering 2.888M total viewers and 1.286M in the A25-54 demographic. Her show was #1 in its timeslot, besting FNC’s “The O’Reilly Factor” by 747,000 A25-54 viewers.

Given her success resonating with audiences, we predict Grace might have a few choice words for Geraldo in the future.

(H/T: Fox News)