During NBC's live State of the Union coverage Tuesday night, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd sneered at Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson being a Republican guest at the event: "...after the shooting with Gabby Giffords and for a couple of State of the Unions in a row....There was more of a dignified feeling about the guests that you would invite. Boy, you can tell things are a lot different now, when you're inviting Duck Dynasty stars. Everybody's trying to make a partisan political point." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Todd concluded: "You get the feeling that whatever Kumbaya that there had been, at least in the last couple of years, that's – that's gone with this State of the Union."
Minutes before Todd's rant, Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell had noted Robertson's attendance: "One of the reality TV stars of Duck Dynasty, Willie Robertson, is here with his star-spangled bandanna. And there has been a parade of members, Republican members of the House, who've come from the floor up to the second level to shake hands with him."
The networks thoroughly denounced Robertson's father and fellow Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson after he expressed his religious opposition to homosexuality.
