During NBC’s live special coverage of Wednesday’s impeachment vote, Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd went all-in for House Democrats, claiming that the partisan process somehow proved that President Trump doesn’t “appreciate” or “revere” the Constitution. He even laughably asserted that “Democrats didn’t engage on this issue politically.”
“You know, I think this is the real challenge with sort of dealing with this president, is that I don’t think he really even appreciates the Constitution,” Todd sneered during the 9:00 a.m. ET hour as the debate on the House floor was about to begin. “I don’t know if he has this reverence for it that most elected officials in Washington eventually do end up having a reverence for it,” the anchor lamented.
Not only did Todd accuse the President of not caring about the Constitution, he went further, asserting that Trump didn’t even understand basic American history:
He doesn’t seem to sort of understand the founding. I mean, I think one of the fairest criticisms of him by historians is that he doesn’t seem to understand the story of America, if you will. And the story of America begins in those pages in the Constitution. So I don’t think he really appreciates it. I don’t think he reveres it.
Referring to the slipshod impeachment crusade launched by Democrats, Todd fretted that the President “is just very dismissive...it’s no different than a zoning hearing in his mind.”
Appearing minutes later in the coverage, Todd desperately tried to spin the politics surrounding impeachment as only bad news for Trump and Republicans:
So then you look at it and you say, but look at all the money, time, and effort the President and his allies had to spend in order to fight to a political draw....Maybe they have survived this battle. But in the long-term, how is any of this helping the President’s case for reelection? How has any of this helped woo a swing voter?...And so, all I would caution is those that look at this and say, “Oh, Trump’s winning.” Trump’s not winning. Trump had to do all of this work in order to fight to a draw and he’s still underwater politically. Impeachment has not been good for him for his reelection.
At the same time, the Meet the Press host absurdly claimed: “Democrats didn’t engage on this issue politically. Now maybe – some will say maybe they should have, but they were trying not to be political about it. They were hoping to have people say, ‘No, no, no, this is above politics.’”
Knowing that impeachment is certain to fail and will likely damage Democrats politically in 2020, the liberal media have no choice but to invent a different narrative that’s more favorable to their side.
Here is a transcript of Todd’s December 18 commentary:
9:35 AM
TODD: You know, I think this is the real challenge with sort of dealing with this president, is that I don’t think he really even appreciates the Constitution. Alright? I don’t know if he has this reverence for it that most elected officials in Washington eventually do end up having a reverence for it. He doesn’t seem to sort of understand the founding. I mean, I think one of the fairest criticisms of him by historians is that he doesn’t seem to understand the story of America, if you will. And the story of America begins in those pages in the Constitution. So I don’t think he really appreciates it. I don’t think he reveres it. I think he is just very dismissive, “Oh, these are just more silly rules.” You know, it’s no different than a zoning hearing in his mind.
(...)
9:49 AM
TODD: So then you look at it and you say, but look at all the money, time, and effort the President and his allies had to spend in order to fight to a political draw. So there’s, like I said, two ways to look at it, yes, they are here and they probably saved the President from getting ousted from office. But what have they done? Maybe they have survived this battle. But in the long-term, how is any of this helping the President’s case for reelection? How has any of this helped woo a swing voter?
So when we start to assess the politics of impeachment and you look at, “Wow, his numbers haven’t gone down.” The fact that they’re still where they’re at is because the Republicans had to $10 to 20 million to keep the atmosphere up there. Democrats didn’t engage on this issue politically. Now maybe – some will say maybe they should have, but they were trying not to be political about it. They were hoping to have people say, “No, no, no, this is above politics.” But here we are. And so, all I would caution is those that look at this and say, “Oh, Trump’s winning.” Trump’s not winning. Trump had to do all of this work in order to fight to a draw and he’s still underwater politically. Impeachment has not been good for him for his reelection.
(...)
