Appearing on Late Night With Seth Meyers Monday night, aired early Tuesday morning, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt rejected President Trump’s criticism of the liberal media by laughably claiming that NBC News has “earned a lot of trust with our audiences and a tradition of excellence.” Holt of course took over Nightly News after his predecessor Brian Williams was caught lying about his coverage of the Iraq war.
“Well, you are – I hate to break this to you – you are a member of the media and you, as a collective, as have been explained to me by our president, are an ‘enemy of the people.’ And he’s recently tweeted that you are ‘dangerous and sick,’” fretted host Seth Meyers. He asked Holt: “Is it strange to be representing a profession right now that the President of the United States is just full bore attacking on a daily basis?”
Holt replied:
I let the “fake news” stuff roll off my back. It’s not fun, but I think most people understand an organization like ours, and a lot of the organizations under fire, have been doing this for decades and decades. And we’ve earned a lot of trust with our audiences and a tradition of excellence. So I let – I let that roll.
In reality, the public have ruled networks like NBC to be untrustworthy in poll after poll. In November of 2017, a Zogby survey found that a plurality of Americans, 48 percent, thought the three broadcast networks (NBC, ABC, CBS) and major newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times) were not trustworthy.
Turning to Trump’s harsher criticism of the press, Holt declared: “I think where I draw the line, though, is the safety and well-being of my colleagues. And ‘enemy of the people,’ I think, crosses a line. I think it’s reckless. I respectfully ask that it end. And that’s what I have to say about it.”
Public faith in the news media has plummeted due to reporters’ overwhelming political bias and numerous scandals, but anchors like Holt prefer to imagine they are part of a grand “tradition of excellence.”
Here is a transcript of the exchange on the August 6 episode of Late Night, aired early on the morning of August 7:
1:03 AM ET
(...)
SETH MEYERS: Well, you are – I hate to break this to you – you are a member of the media and you, as a collective, as have been explained to me by our president, are an “enemy of the people.” [Laughter] And he’s recently tweeted that you are “dangerous and sick.” Is it strange to be representing a profession right now that the President of the United States is just full boar attacking on a daily basis?
LESTER HOLT: You know, I let the – I let the “fake news” stuff roll off my back. It’s not fun, but I think most people understand an organization like ours, and a lot of the organizations under fire, have been doing this for decades and decades. And we’ve earned a lot of trust with our audiences and a tradition of excellence. So I let – I let that roll.
I think where I draw the line, though, is the safety and well-being of my colleagues. And “enemy of the people,” I think, crosses a line. I think it’s reckless. I respectfully ask that it end. And that’s what I have to say about it.
MEYERS: I also respectfully – [Cheers and applause] – ask it to end. And I will say, I have some bad news for both of us based on how respectfully asking is working. [Laughter]
(...)
