On Monday, Tom Llamas takes over the reins of NBC Nightly News from departed anchor Lester Holt and a look at his career at NBC and ABC shows he will maintain the leftist tilt in the evenings.
Back in March, then-senior national correspondent Llamas wondered if President Donald’ Trump’s “super power” will come from not running for re-election. Llamas pressed former White House press secretary J. Hogan Gidley will there be a “temptation” for Trump to be “incredibly reckless?”
In 2020 Llamas seemed less worried about the property damage done by Wisconsin rioters and more concerned about how it might affect the presidential race as he asked if there was a “danger” that it could help re-elect Trump.
There’s also a risk of sloppy, dishonest reporting. While anchoring the October 13, 2019 edition of ABC’s Sunday World News Tonight, Llamas used video from a Kentucky gun range and passed it off as Syrian gunfire in a story tinged with anti-Trump sentiment.
Llamas opened the segment: “Weeks since President Trump ordered U.S. forces out of that region, effectively abandoning America’s allies in the fight against ISIS.” In the background, rapid gunfire and explosions across a night sky were shown, as Llamas described the scene: “This video right here appearing to be showing Turkey’s military bombing Kurdish civilians in a Syrian border town.”
It doesn’t look like NBC Nightly News will be any less slanted with Llamas at the helm.
The following are just a few of the worst moments from Llamas via the MRC’s archives:
Will a One-Term Trump Be Tempted to Be “Incredibly Reckless?”
“Since he’s [Donald Trump] not running for re-election, do you think that’s a super power, or do you think that’s sort of a gateway to temptation to be incredibly reckless?”
— NBC senior national correspondent Tom Llamas to former Trump White House press secretary J. Hogan Gidley on NBC News Now live coverage of Trump address to Congress, March 4, 2025.
Kicking Trump When He’s Down With the COVID Sickness
“The President is learning in the worst possible way you can’t argue your way out of this pandemic. The President’s positive test comes after months of a dangerous gamble – downplaying COVID-19, flouting public health regulations, and minimizing the dangers of the virus.”
— Correspondent Tom Llamas on ABC’s Good Morning America, October 2, 2020.
“Danger” That Wisconsin Riots Will Help Trump
Host Tom Llamas: “I saw a video that struck me today. It was a white business owner of a pizzeria that was destroyed and all the glass was broken and he was pleading at the protesters, the demonstrators, screaming at them: ‘Do you want to re-elect Trump?’ Essentially saying, ‘You are going to fire up the other side.’ Do you think that’s the case? Could it happen? Is there a danger here?”
— Host Tom Llamas on ABC’s The Republican National Convention — Your Voice/Your Vote 2020, August 26, 2020.
I Won’t Let You Use Bill’s Bad Behavior to Hurt Hillary
“Do you think Donald Trump used you as a political prop today?”
— ABC correspondent Tom Llamas to Bill Clinton accuser Kathleen Willey, as aired on Good Morning America, October 10, 2016. Trump seated Clinton accusers at 2016 presidential debate.
“The rape accusation is decades-old and discredited.”
— Correspondent Tom Llamas on ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir, May 19, 2016.
