David Gregory

Newark's Democratic Mayor Cory Booker started a firestorm Sunday when he said on NBC's Meet the Press the Obama campaign's attack on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's private equity career is "nauseating."

"To continue his damage control efforts," Booker's only interview Monday was with his "good friend" Rachel Maddow, and despite having a twelve minute exclusive with the mayor, the MSNBC anchor never once asked him what his opinion was of private equity (video follows with commentary, full transcript at end of post).

On Sunday's NBC Meet the Press, American Conservative Union president Al Cardenas squared off against a group of left-wing pundits on the subject of President Obama announcing his support for gay marriage. The liberal bloc of guests included MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, and Washington Post columnists Jonathan Capehart and Kathleen Parker. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Parker cheered Obama's use of the word "evolving" to describe his flip-flop on gay marriage: "I think that's the perfect word to describe this conversation because the American people are evolving on this issue. And increasingly they're coming on the side of same-sex marriage being the right side of history..."

Providing a forum to actor and Obama supporter Robert De Niro on Sunday's NBC Meet the Press, host David Gregory teed up the celebrity to praise the President: "...you talked about your inspiration and your support for President Obama. Are you as inspired? Are you as hopeful? Are you as satisfied with what he's done as president as he stands for re-election?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

De Niro gave a predictably positive review: "You know, it's very easy to criticize people. I think he's done a good job....as far as Bin Laden and other things that he stepped up – being a liberal president, supposedly – that were effective." De Niro then predicted: "I know he'll do better in the next four years, when he won't have to worry whether he's going to be elected or not."

Talking to Meet the Press host David Gregory on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry pushed for Mitt Romney to move away from conservatives: "...does he have to work really hard now to backtrack off of some of his positions in the past, as he was trying to win the primary...?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

In a stunning double standard, in her very next question, Curry fretted about President Obama distancing himself from Vice President Biden's support of gay marriage: "There's been some backtracking, it seems, by the White House. Is it possible that the White House could cause itself some damage in backtracking too much off of this?"

In 1998, first lady Hillary Clinton famously claimed there was a vast right-wing conspiracy against her husband.

On Sunday, NBC's David Gregory actually asked Vice President Joe Biden on Meet the Press, "Do you think that there is a modern right-wing conspiracy that has aligned against this president?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

In a fawning interview with liberal comedian Stephen Colbert on Friday's NBC Today, fill-in co-host David Gregory gushed over the Comedy Central host being a factor in the 2012 presidential race: "What a treat for me to be in for Matt [Lauer] today....Stephen Colbert is a man who has had a loud and influential voice in this political season."

Gregory began the farcical exchange by proclaiming to Colbert: "You have a super-PAC and you have a character on television. And you have a real impact on this race." Colbert himself was skeptical: "How do I have an impact on the race?" Still, Gregory urged the fake newsman to share his supposed wisdom: "What are you exposing about the race and about the political system in 2012 that you think the rest of us miss?"

Talking to Meet the Press host David Gregory on the NBC Sunday show's web-based feature Press Pass, Saturday Night Live cast member and Obama impersonator Fred Armisen confessed: "I've grown to like him more and more. You know, I was always – I've just been a fan of his, if you could say that about a president. So that's the other kind of good part of it, is you know, getting to like him more and more."

By contrast, fellow cast member Jason Sudeikis told Gregory he wished he could impersonate someone more exciting than Mitt Romney: "I'd prefer that he did something scandalous or something and, you know, incredibly stupid, as opposed to just boring....I mean, he's like a butter sandwich with unsalted butter and the crust cut off."

In an interview with senior Mitt Romney campaign adviser Ed Gillespie on Sunday's Meet the Press, moderator David Gregory noted how President Obama was "certainly using" the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama Bin Laden "against Governor Romney" and quickly justified the crass political move by claiming "the same sort of tactics that were used in a lot of people's eyes" by President Bush.

After playing a sound bite of Vice President Biden suggesting Mitt Romney would not have ordered the killing of Bin Laden, Gregory proclaimed: "Here's an example, back in 2004, of an ad that he [President Bush] ran as he was running for reelection....Using images from the World Trade Center. A lot of people see that as the very same thing. Is it not?"

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Sunday's Meet the Press tried to advance the bogus liberal position that women in America still only make 77 cents on the dollar compared to men.

Fortunately for viewers actually interested in the truth, Republican strategist Alex Castellanos was on the panel to correct her after marvelously teasing, "I love how passionate you are. I wish you were as right about what you're saying as you are passionate about it. I really do" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Can NBC's Chuck Todd be any more obvious about being a White House shill?

On Sunday's Meet the Press, he actually said of the Ann Romney-offending Hilary Rosen, "This is not an Obama surrogate. This is a paid CNN commentator" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Updated [14:38 et]:  Audio available here and video added after the jump.

Appearing on NBC's Sunday web-based feature Press Pass, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley tore apart the media obsession with the contraception debate: "The media thinks that women only care about contraception, that's not true. They care about contraception, and education, and health care, and jobs, and the economy."

Haley leveled the criticism after Meet the Press host David Gregory grilled her on the "gender gap" in Republican support being an obstacle to Mitt Romney defeating President Obama in November. Haley took Gregory to task for the question: "I find it comical that the news media wants to continue to talk about a gender gap, and so I'll challenge you to ask a man about the gender gap as well."

Mormon Congressman Raul Labrador (R-Id.) scolded David Gregory on Sunday for his network's horrible treatment of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's faith.

Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press, Labrador specifically named MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell as one of the offenders (video follows with transcript and commentary):

On Wednesday's NBC Tonight Show, host Jay Leno asked Meet the Press host David Gregory if Mitt Romney's religion would be fair game in the general election: "...with Obama....you know, 'Oh, he's a Muslim. He's not a Christian.' Do you think that Romney will get the same thing about his faith that Obama got?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

While Gregory acknowledged Romney potentially becoming the Republican nominee would be "a huge moment for religious tolerance in the country," he then argued: "But I think it's an issue, I mean, I think a lot of people have questions about the Mormon faith. There's a lot of ignorance about the Mormon faith. And let's be honest, this is the core of who Mitt Romney is....And yet, he doesn't talk about it."

Appearing on Sunday's NBC Meet the Press, Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward mounted his high horse in condemning the role of Super-PACs in the 2012 race: "...under the Supreme Court decision all of the new 21st century robber barons, let's call them what they are, can put tens of millions of dollars into the campaign. It's negative, it's poison, it's venom..."

Woodward then laughably told viewers who would protect them from the villains: "...we – NBC, The New York Times, Washington Post, the people in the media...we're going to be tested to say can we present a clear-eyed view of who the candidates are and not just have this negative atmosphere." The only problem with that call to action is that the media have acted like the largest Democratic Super-PAC money can buy.

While interviewing Arizona Senator John McCain on Sunday's Meet the Press, host David Gregory took a line from the Democratic script as he wondered: "Are you concerned at all to see a focus with certain elements of the Republican Party on social issues?...Do you think that there is something of a war on women among Republicans?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

If only President Barack Obama were a Republican, then the public would realize he has been “a very successful” President, but Democrats, actor/activist George Clooney fretted, “are just very poor...at explaining” their accomplishments. The assessment from Clooney, who also declared “the President that I voted for, I’m very proud of,” came in a Meet the Press online “Press Pass” sit-down with David Gregory aired on the real Meet the Press. Clooney imagined that if he and Obama were Republicans:

Trying to help Democrats come up with a line of attack against the GOP in November on Sunday's Meet the Press, host David Gregory teed up Maryland Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley to slam fellow guest, Republican Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell: "Do you think your counterpart here in Virginia would be a good running mate for Romney or would you cast him as an extremist?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

What would justify such a label? The answer to that can be found in this earlier question Gregory hit McDonnell with: "You backed an abortion bill initially that included a very invasive procedure as part of an ultrasound that the state would have required and then you backed off of that. Were you wrong to support that initially or did you simply back off because the political heat got turned up the way it did?"

In a panel discussion on Sunday's NBC Meet the Press that included left-wing bomb-thrower Al Sharpton, host David Gregory worried: "Where has civility gone in politics?" He declared the source of incivility: "I talked to John Lewis, the civil rights leader, recently, who said he does think there's something particular, if it's racism or something else, about Obama that brings out a level of hatred." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

The entire discussion focused on recent comments by Rush Limbaugh but completely ignored Sharpton's history of offensive remarks as well as the vile insults continually hurled from million-dollar Obama donor Bill Maher. The most Gregory could manage was this vague observation: "And let's be clear, there are plenty of pundits and others on the Left who use, you know, inflammatory and corrosive language."

In the minutes prior to President Obama's Tuesday press conference, Meet the Press host David Gregory could barely contain his glee as he proclaimed those in the White House, "feel pretty good about how this Republican race is going for the President's reelection prospects, and there's nothing like being the president when the other guys are off fighting."

Gregory added that Obama, "can stand up and say, 'I'm actually dealing with the big issues,' and sort of frame the debate when everybody will be watching." Correspondent Savannah Guthrie similarly chimed in: "...it has been corrosive on the Republican Party as a brand to go through this difficult nominating process....Anytime the president is appearing presidential, doing the work of the presidency, they like that contrast with what's happening in the Republican primary."

As NewsBusters reported Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich scolded Meet the Press host David Gregory for beginning their interview with a question about the Rush Limbaugh-Sandra Fluke controversy.

On Fox News's On the Record Monday, Karl Rove said of this exchange, "God bless Speaker Gingrich for taking David Gregory out behind the barn and giving him a whooping" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Appearing on Saturday's NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press host David Gregory argued that the issue of contraception was a loser for the GOP: "I think there are a lot of Republicans who are worried that this is...a fight that the Republicans probably should not be having right now, over contraception of all things, which is pretty much a settled matter in terms of access for women..."

In addition, Gregory hit Rush Limbaugh for taking the debate over the ObamaCare contraception mandate to "a much more offensive level," and argued: "...he escalated it to a degree, there's a lot of female voters who are energized on the Democratic side of all this."

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), in response to the Rush Limbaugh-Sandra Fluke controversy, told the host of Meet the Press Sunday, "I don't know any woman in America, David, that thinks that being called a slut is funny."

This hysterically comes less than two months after the Florida Congresswoman appeared on vulgarian Bill Maher's HBO program Real Time (video follows with transcript and commentary):

No love on the Sunday morning television talk shows for Rush Limbaugh, not even a mild defense as the unifying theme was disappointment in Mitt Romney for not denouncing the leading national conservative talk radio host. “The problem with Rush Limbaugh,” NBC News White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie complained in pretending to care about the fate of Republicans, “is that he re-framed the debate on Democrat’s terms” and “Romney lost an opportunity there to speak out forcefully against” Limbaugh which “would have shown some political courage, some backbone and ultimately,” she argued, “that would help him with conservatives.”

Meet the Press host David Gregory jumped in to assert “Sister Souljah’s not just a rap reference, it’s a political reference.” He cued up Republican strategist/Romney backer Mike Murphy: “Was this a ‘Sister Souljah Moment’ that Romney missed?” Murphy, naturally, agreed as he added in a snarky shot at Limbaugh: “It could have been and it should have been. The big myth about Rush Limbaugh is he can’t deliver a pizza let alone a vote.”

With all that ails the nation, Meet the Press host David Gregory actually began his interview with Newt Gingrich by asking him about contraceptives and Rush Limbaugh.

Showing obvious disgust for the topic, the Republican presidential candidate marvelously responded, "You know, David, I am astonished at the desperation of the elite media to avoid rising gas prices, to avoid the President's apology to religious fanatics in Afghanistan, to avoid a trillion dollar deficit, to avoid the longest period of unemployment since the Great Depression, and to suddenly decide that Rush Limbaugh is the great national crisis of this week" (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

On Wednesday’s Morning Joe, Meet The Press moderator David Gregory furthered the liberal media spin that the retirement of liberal-leaning Republican Senator Olympia Snowe is a real blow to the Republican Party. 

Gregory sought fit to blame the Republican Party for her decision to retire saying, “it leaves her as a Northeastern moderate Republican out in the cold and not really welcome in this Republican Party that is starting to build off of that momentum from 2010.”  [See video below.  MP3 audio here.]

Concluding a dramatically slanted discussion on immigration on Sunday's NBC Meet the Press, host David Gregory grilled Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on a recent argument with President Obama and her declining an invitation to a White House party, insisting: "Are you showing disrespect for the office of the presidency?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

In the lead-up conversation to that question, Gregory lobbed softballs to California Democratic Governor Jerry Brown while declaring to Governor Brewer that the Republican stance on immigration, including Arizona's "very tough immigration law," are a "big part of the problem" in the GOP attracting Hispanic voters.

Rick Santorum had a bit of a testy exchange with NBC's David Gregory on Sunday's Meet the Press.

After Gregory asked if Santorum was going to "rail against areas of our culture that [he] disagree[s] with" if elected president, the former senator smartly replied, "It's so funny. I get the question all the time, 'Why are you talking so much about these social issues'...as people ask me about the social issues" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Appearing on Sunday's NBC Today, Meet the Press host David Gregory recited Obama campaign talking points perfectly as he predicted: "...Well, he's going to raise plenty of money.... even if people are disappointed with the President, they're going to focus on the alternative. They're going to say, 'Do you really want to hand it over to Republicans?' I think Democrats will be plenty energized..."

That response was prompted by co-host Jenna Wolfe helpfully touting Obama's fundraising numbers, emphasizing small-dollar donors: "...they raised over $29 million in January for their re-election. Ninety-eight percent of those donations were $250 or less. What does that say about Obama supporters?" The headline on screen added: "Obama's Fundraising Driven By Small Donors."