Seconds before President Obama addressed the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday night, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt gave viewers a quick preview with Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd and wondered to Todd if the speech will mark “a defining moment for this presidency.”
After being tossed to by Football in America co-host Bob Costas, Holt welcomed viewers and explained that the President “will try to reassure Americans in the wake of Wednesday's terror attack here in California” and “is expected to speak about combating terror, protecting the homeland, and gun control.”
Holt then asked Todd: “Chuck, will this be a defining moment for this presidency?”
Striking a far less enthusiastic tone, Todd opined how “this is a speech that arguably he should have given a few days after the Paris attacks, but now with San Bernardino on top of Paris, you have an American public that is very anxious.”
Todd added that “[t]he concern about security is palpable” and “out there” with an example being how a “record-breaking amount of background checks in data people are feeling insecure in their own homes” took place this past Black Friday.
The relevant portion of the transcript from NBC’s coverage of President Obama’s speech on December 6 can be found below.
NBC Presidential Speech
December 6, 2016
8:00 p.m. Eastern
LESTER HOLT: President Obama is about to address the nation from the Oval Office. He will try to reassure Americans in the wake of Wednesday's terror attack here in California. The President is expected to speak about combating terror, protecting the homeland, and gun control and Chuck Todd, the moderator of Meet the Press is at the White House right now. Chuck, will this be a defining moment for this presidency?
MEET THE PRESS MODERATOR CHUCK TODD: Well, it could be, but let me tell you this is a speech that arguably he should have given a few days after the Paris attacks, but now with San Bernardino on top of Paris, you have an American public that is very anxious. The concern about security is palpable. It's out there. Just look at last Friday, Black Friday and the record-breaking amount of background checks in data people are feeling insecure in their own homes. So the purpose of this speech is forest to try to reassure the public that the government is on top of this, the government is doing everything it can to prevent ISIS-inspired attacks here on the homeland and at the same time, expect the President to spend a lot of time to tell the American public don't take this out on Muslim Americans. So you're going to hear a little bit on that. You might also hear a little bit on gun control, but don't expect a lot, Lester.
