From NBC Walkout to CBS Ousters: Bozell Explains Why Public Trust in the Media Hits a Historic Low

On the latest episode of the Wired In podcast, host Cabot Phillips spoke with Media Research Center President David Bozell to analyze the off-the-rails Scott Pelley's New York Times podcast interview and President Donald Trump’s walkout on NBC’s Kristen Welker. 

President Trump walked off the set of a weekend interview with Welker, host of NBC’s Meet the Press, following a heated exchange with moderator Kristen Welker regarding election integrity. During the segment, Trump criticized NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN, calling them "one-sided crooked networks." 

Bozell defended Trump's decision to leave, arguing that legacy journalists routinely subject conservative figures to lopsided coverage, something Trump himself noted by citing MRC research. Bozell noted that the interview took place at a John Deere manufacturing facility immediately following a positive national jobs report, an achievement Bozell argued Welker largely ignored in favor of more adversarial questioning. He added that the media's adversarial approach to Trump has driven public trust in news institutions to historic lows.

The segment also addressed the recent departure of veteran journalist Scott Pelley from CBS’s 60 Minutes. Pelley’s exit followed internal friction with the network’s new leadership, including chief editor Bari Weiss. In an appearance on a New York Times podcast, Pelley expressed disbelief over accusations of network bias and compared his journalistic career to military combat. Bozell dismissed Pelley's remarks as performative, citing recent Gallup polling data showing that public trust in the media has hit a 72-year low.

Watch the full video podcast below.