The cold war between ABC stalwart George Stephanopoulos and young buck David Muir has been glazed with another icy snap.

Muir, the network’s apparent golden boy who anchors World News Tonight, was named among Time’s 100 most influential people this week.

He received a glowing tribute from none other than industry legend Diane Sawyer.

Stephanopoulos, who once held the esteemed title of ABC News’ chief anchor, did not make the list.

ABC insists that rumors of a feud are nonsense.

‘This is a tired narrative. Everyone at ABC News is proud of David’s recognition,’ a spokesperson said in a statement.

Stephanopoulos did his best to put such speculation to bed when he congratulated Muir on his nomination through gritted teeth earlier this week.

‘David Muir! Our own David Muir,’ gushed his GMA co-host Robin Roberts on Wednesday as they rattled through nominees.

‘Congratulations to David and all the nominees,’  Stephanopoulos, 64, quickly added.

The reported tension began when Muir was cherry-picked to replace Sawyer.

World News Tonight anchor David Muir has been named one of Time’s top 100 most influential people of the year – while Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos was noticeably absent

Despite this, the Good Morning America team all celebrated Muir on Wednesday, with  even Stephanopoulos offering words of encouragement. He still holds the distinction of being ABC News’ chief anchor, making his absence all the more conspicuous

In her Time tribute, Sawyer gushed of Muir: ‘I am lucky that my successor is also the irreverent friend I want to hang out with when the camera shuts down.

‘Though I am also miffed that he’s the guy who can leap two flights of stairs, vault into the anchor chair, and never lose focus – or his breath.’

‘He’s the anchor chosen for interviews by Popes and Presidents.

‘He shows up calm, respectful, and fearless.’

The magazine offered Muir’s predecessor, Diane Sawyer, the chance to pen his tribute. She did so in earnest fashion, while offering some anecdotes and characteristic emotion

‘Like [Peter] before him, David is authoritative and dynamic – the first out the door to the story,’ she wrote.

‘[David] anchors the nation’s most-watched television news program,’ she went on.

‘Every night more than 8million Americans trust him to make sense of the day.’

That’s nearly 2million more than next-best NBC, which is set to lose longtime fixture Lester Holt – who made the Time list after his first year manning Nightly News full-time in 2016 – this summer.

That’s after Muir managed to erase the 1 million total-viewer gap he inherited from Sawyer – his old boss.

‘Iraq’s hunt for ISIS. Hurricanes, fires,’ she added. ‘He traveled [to them all].’

After the exits of Holt from NBC and Norah O’Donnell at CBS, Muir is one of the few familiar faces in a thinning field of primetime news anchors – an industry already in overall decline.

Back in February, a former senior NBC staffer told DailyMail.com that familiarity is Muir’s biggest weapon – one that  will likely see the gap he has built between NBC and ABC continue to grow,.

‘Lester’s an icon – and some night’s he’s still down to [ABC’s] David Muir by more than 1million viewers,’ the source said at the time, as Muir remains the most-watched face in primetime.

Meanwhile, after the exits of Lester Holt and Norah O’Donnell, Muir remains one of the few familiar faces left in a thinning field of anchors

‘He has that recognition, and was already down 1.6million to Muir on some nights.’

A second source familiar with the matter further added how Tom Llamas, the NBC News correspondent tapped to replace Holt, has yet to inspire much confidence in his higher-ups.

However, the former World News Tonight weekend host – who ‘was promised the job’ after being poached by ABC a few years ago – did do well ratings-wise during a two-day fill-in last week, new Nielsen numbers show. He’s also beaten Muir in the hallowed 24-55 demographic multiple times before when subbing in for Holt.

Stephanopoulos, meanwhile, still retains his areas of power at the network, where is still highly respected.

He was inducted last September into the Broadcasting and Cable in Manhattan, along with ABC boss Debra O’Connell, the president of news and networks for parent company Walt Disney. Muir, meanwhile, was not.

This was after a reported tussle between the two in 2022, spurred by Muir taking on his more pronounced political role at the network – seemingly at the expense of Stephanopoulos, a former high-profile Bill Clinton aide with high-profile connections in the industry.

It surrounded who would be the network’s chief anchor, several outlets reported – as former CNN reporter Oliver Darcy told DailyMail.com last month: ‘There’s a reason that [George] does not play a role in the larger ABC news political coverage anymore.

Pictured, Muir months before he assumed Sawyer’s spot on ABC’s primetime program, with longtime Stephanopoulos costar Robin Roberts and Sawyer herself

ABC named Muir its ‘lead’ anchor for all major political events and was tapped to handle the network’s breaking news coverage.

Aside from his top spot at GMA, Stephanopoulos also anchors ABC News’ Sunday public affairs show This Week, after also being given a production company as part of a partnership with ABC News and Hulu.

Such animosity has since evaporated, Darcy said last month – stating Stephanopoulos still has ‘his own real estate’ in the network.

‘He was the lead man for a while and now it’s [Muir].’