Rachel and Lawrence are good but their shows can be long and boring (their coverage during the pandemic has been great though).

Hayes is well read but also quick witted and moves through his segments at a good pace. He routinely eviscerates Trumpism, 'Trump TV' (as he refers to Fox News), etc.

He's not alt-left/Bernie Bro; he cares about social justice and is not antagonistic towards 'establishment' Dems who he often has on his show (Cuomo was on recently).

I too disliked when he covered the Reade story. But as a journalist he must cover a story that major outlets like the NYT, WaPo, AP etc are covering. I blame them for not doing due diligence and in playing the both-siderism game, where Biden's 'sins' and Trump's are cast as the same.