Watching someone as pathetic as NBC political director Chuck Todd flip out when confronted with his shortcomings is always an interesting spectacle to watch. Such was the case on Sunday’s Meet the Press where Todd went toe-to-toe with Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R). The embarrassment came when Todd threw a hissy fit, screaming at Johnson when called out for the media’s liberal bias that destroyed trust in the news media.
After Todd accused Johnson and his fellow Republicans of being arsonists for holding hearings on the 2020 election, the Senator called out the media for being the ones who started the fire (though some would argue that it’s been burning since the world’s been turning):
This started when the mainstream media stopped, dropped any pretense of being unbiased, and actually chose sides during this election. This fire was started when you completely ignored, for example, our investigation of Hunter Biden. You know, “no evidence of wrongdoing there.” Now we find out after the election, no, there is a fair amount of evidence to the point that we have a real FBI investigation –
Once the facts about Hunter Biden came out of Johnson’s mouth, Todd immediately tried to shut it down. “Senator! All right. I've had enough of hearing this,” Todd screamed over his honorable guest.
That kicked off a heated shouting match which saw Johnson call out the media for destroying their own credibility and American institutions. And at one point, Todd seemed as though he wanted to place that blame on Republicans (Click “expand”):
JOHNSON: No, listen, I've had enough of this, too.
TODD: No, Senator –
JOHNSON: The bias in the media--
[Crosstalk]
TODD: You spent the last two years --
JOHNSON: Republicans and conservatives do not trust --
TODD: No --
JOHNSON: - the mainstream media and that is what destroyed the credibility of the media and our institutions and —
TODD: Right.
JOHNSON: -- really –
TODD (Yelling over guest): The destruction of the institutions--
JOHNSON: So, I didn't start this.
“Listen, you have spent, and I'm curious, Senator, you've spent much of your time in the last two years carrying a lot of this crazy conspiratorial water for President Trump,” Todd chided in response.
Despite Todd’s deflection, he couldn’t hide the truth. He was partially responsible for destroying the media’s credibility. In 2017, it was exposed that he had hosted house parties for prominent Democrats. And early last year, it was discovered that Todd had rented out his Arlington, Virginia townhouse to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
The contentious interview continued for a few more minutes as Johnson called out Democrats and the media for pushing the unfounded conspiracy theory that Russia had hacked the 2016 election and changed votes for Trump, something Todd as political director allowed on MSNBC.
“Again, I didn't light this fire. This fire was lit over four years ago and we've destroyed the credibility, you have destroyed the credibility of the news media by your bias,” Johnson declared as he named names for who was responsible for crippling confidence in the justice system.
Adding: “We have an enormous problem in the country it's unsustainable and the only way you solve it is with information and transparency and hearings and investigations. It’s not quackery, it’s conspiracy theory. It’s what's going to be required.”
This apparently pushed Todd over the edge, as he started to press the Senator on whether or not he planned to hold hearings on 9/11 trutherism or conspiracies that the Moon landing was fake.
“Let me ask you this: Then why didn't you hold hearings about the 9/11 truthers? There’s plenty of people that thought 9/11 was an inside job,” he sneered. “How about the moon landing? Are you going to hold hearings on that?” To which Johnson let out a frustrated sigh.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC’s Meet the Press
January 3, 2021
10:48:54 p.m. Eastern(…)
SEN. RON JOHNSON: This started when the mainstream media stopped, dropped any pretense of being unbiased and actually chose sides during this election. This fire was started when you completely ignored, for example, our investigation of Hunter Biden. You know, “no evidence of wrongdoing there.” Now we find out after the election, no, there is a fair amount of evidence to the point that we have a real FBI investigation --
CHUCK TODD (Yelling over guest): Senator! All right. I've had enough of hearing this --
JOHNSON: No, listen, I've had enough of this, too.
TODD: No, Senator –
JOHNSON: The bias in the media--
[Crosstalk]
TODD: You spent the last two years --
JOHNSON: Republicans and conservatives do not trust --
TODD: No --
JOHNSON: - the mainstream media and that is what destroyed the credibility of the media and our institutions and —
TODD: Right.
JOHNSON: -- really –
TODD (Yelling over guest): The destruction of the institutions--
JOHNSON: So, I didn't start this.
TODD: Listen, you have spent, and I'm curious, Senator, you've spent much of your time in the last two years carrying a lot of this crazy conspiratorial water for President Trump.
(…)
10:51:57 a.m. Eastern
JOHNSON: So again, I didn't criticize Democrats when they were talking about potential hacking of voting machines, but now it's quackery, now it’s conspiracy theory, that's the problem, Chuck. There’s a double standard here and we are not being transparent and we are dismissing the concerns of tens of millions of Americans.
Again, I didn't light this fire. This fire was lit over four years ago and we've destroyed the credibility, you have destroyed the credibility of the news media by your bias. And of course, the people like James Comey, Andrew McCabe, John Brennan destroyed the credibility of the FBI and our justice system, as well. We have an enormous problem in the country it's unsustainable and the only way you solve it is with information and transparency and hearings and investigations. It’s not quackery, it’s conspiracy theory. It’s what's going to be required.
TODD: Let me ask you this: Then why didn't you hold hearings about the 9/11 truthers? There’s plenty of people that thought 9/11 was an inside job. So, you’re basically saying--
JOHNSON: Chuck, I --
TODD: -- that if there’s enough people who believe in a conspiracy theory –
[Crosstalk]
JOHNSON: I held hearings on what I figured was the most relevant issues.
TODD: How about the moon landing? Are you going to hold hearings on that?
JOHNSON: [Frustrated sigh]
(…)
