Chuck Todd and Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC, 2018
NBC‘s “Meet the Press” host and moderator Chuck Todd announced on air last Sunday that he is leaving the show. Starting in September, Kristen Welker, NBC News’ co-chief White House correspondent, will take Todd’s place. In his statement, Todd said,“We didn’t tolerate propagandists, and this network and program never will.” Sadly, however, that was far from the case.
In fact, “Meet the Press,” during and before Chuck Todd’s time as host, was known as the place where Republicans came to spread their false talking points with the knowledge that they would not be confronted with many refutations or even pointed follow-up questions. For example, when Dick Cheney was Vice President under George W. Bush, Cheney’s communications director, Cathie Martin, regarded “Meet the Press” as the VP’s “best format” to be able to “control [his] message.” Likewise, Cheney’s Chief of Staff, convicted felon Irve Lewis “Scooter” Libby, and other government officials could call Todd’s predecessor at “Meet the Press,” Tim Russert, and privately make their political points in the comfort that (a) they would be asked no difficult questions during the call, and (b) anything they said over the phone would automatically be considered off, rather than on, the record, a very weak and enabling form of journalism.
