NBC’s Chuck Todd creates Obamacare controversy

Chuck Todd of NBC News caused a media firestorm yesterday when he stated on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program that the Republicans’ false talking points about the Affordable Care Act a/k/a “Obamacare” were “more importantly, … stuff that the Republicans have successfully messaged.” Todd went on to say that that it’s not the fault of “folks in the media” like Todd that Republicans are getting away with their Affordable Care Act lies, but rather, “it’s the President of the United States’ fault for not selling it.”

On Twitter, users expressed their anger at Chuck Todd, starting a hashtag called #chucktoddexcuses and posting messages such as “If people like me called out politicians on lies, we wouldn’t have had all that fun in Iraq.” Sites like politicsusa.com also pointed out the flaws in Todd’s thinking:

Todd’s logic falls apart, because he is missing the point of what people are trying to tell him. People aren’t saying to the mainstream media that they want them to support Democrats. The message is that the media should be interested first and only in facts. People get frustrated with the media, because they give lies the same weight as facts.

Furthermore, Chuck Todd apparently doesn’t realize that President Obama already did sell the Affordable Care Act — he successfully sold it to the American people via their representatives in Congress in a historic victory in late 2009 and early 2010, when Congress passed the bill and President Obama signed it into law. President Obama then won a second victory when his administration successfully “sold” the Affordable Care Act to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld the constitutionality of the Act in 2012. Then, President Obama and the Democrats successfully sold the Affordable Care Act a third time by winning seats in Congress and re-electing Obama in the 2012 elections, which were waged in part over the Act. Apparently, Chuck Todd believes that Republican lies regarding the law of the land — remember “death panels”? — are simply good salesmanship, instead of something that he and his colleagues should call out. Todd just failed Journalism 101.