Free Republic

Yesterday, MRC's Matt Hadro reported on the testy exchange NBC's Chuck Todd had with US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy regarding Hillary's possible presidential run. Caroline and her Uncle Ted had famously supported Barack Obama over Hillary back in '08, so when Todd probed Caroline on her support for a Hillary run in '16, things got, as Matt said, "prickly." During his appearance on today's Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski, over Todd's mild objection, replayed the interview in which a clearly annoyed Caroline eventually snapped at Todd when he rephrased a question about her support for Hillary, saying "yeah, I just...

During coverage of President's Obama meeting with Pope Francis on Thursday, both NBC's Today and CBS This Morning hoped the papal visit would boost the commander-in-chief's sinking poll numbers. Today co-host Matt Lauer wondered: "The Pope, enormously popular....Is there something in just rubbing elbows with the Pope for President Obama?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] Chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd observed: "I think that the President, particularly right now where his own approval ratings are not so hot, just being seen with the Pope, particularly in some places where there are a lot...

Talk about a guy who could pick a fight in a phone booth—if there were phone booths anymore . . . On today's Daily Rundown, in a conversation about charter schools, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel repeatedly insulted host Chuck Todd, suggesting he was ignorant about charter schools, was "backward" looking, and that being in Washington had affected "your brain." Todd generally took it in stride, but after one insult couldn't suppress a "wow" of amazement at Rahm's rudeness. View the video here.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has a message for Donald Trump about BuzzFeed blogger McKay Coppins, and it's one that other Republican officials might heed when liberal journalists come looking to "humanize" them. "This nervous geek isn't fit to tie the Donald's wingtips," Palin told Breitbart News after Trump ripped Coppins for lampooning him with what he alleged were out-of-context quotes and boorish behavior at Trump's Florida resort. "Don't ever give him attention again."Coppins tricked Trump's advisers into thinking he would profile Trump as a potential "major" GOP 2016 presidential hopeful. As Breitbart News reported, the Jan. 5 email...

Could the GW bridge scandal be causing internal friction at MSNBC? On today's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough upbraided Chuck Todd for "wild speculation" in the matter. Scarborough's slap at Todd came in response to the NBC political director's suggestion that, based on a photo showing Christie and Wildstein together at a September 11 event--it was "very likely" that Wildstein--in an effort to curry favor with Chris Christie--had told the governor what he had done with the lane closures. View the video here.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Well, Bret Baier at Fox News tweeted that he's heard the same thing: Wealthy Republican donors are starting to give up on Chris Christie for 2016. F. Chuck Todd at NBC News has tweeted the same thing. "Some GOP Donors Think Christie's '2016 Hopes are Done.'" Today, Christie gave his inaugural address to commence his second term as governor of New Jersey. Among the things he said: "We must shun partisanship. We must take action on behalf of the people." CHRISTIE: We cannot fall victim to the attitude of Washington, DC, the attitude that says, "I am...

On Thursday's NBC Today, political director Chuck Todd reveled in the wall-to-wall media coverage of the bridge closing controversy surrounding New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: "Welcome to the NFL....he has gotten a lot of benefit by being sort of this Republican rising star in the New York City media markets, so he gets a lot of access to media attention, access to national media. And so he's had a free ride, if you will. Well now, welcome to the vetting process." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] Todd's comments were prompted by co-host Matt Lauer...

A panel of politicians and commentators on NBC’s Meet the Press sized up the political issues that will dominate 2014 heading into the midterm elections on Sunday. The panel largely agreed that the Affordable Care Act is the most pressing issue of the day today, but they were not sure if that dynamic would still be in place by November. PBS anchor Judy Woodruff said that the issue of “inequality” is compelling and could speak to more Americans’ lives than the ACA’s implementation woes. NBC News Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd began the segment by observing that the Democrats...

Q. If the Obama administration fails to keep its promise that the Obamacare website would be fixed by November 30th, how would you describe the press that reported that fact? A. "Lazy media." If you're NBC political director Chuck Todd, that is. On today's Morning Joe, Todd said the White House was smart to lower the bar about the website by saying only 80% of people would be able to use it by November 30th. Had they not done so, said Todd, the "lazy media" would have jumped on the failed promise, waving "the hourglass." View the video here.

The leading challenger to Lindsey Graham, Lee Bright, took on NBC Political Director Chuck Todd on Todd's "Daily Rundown" show on MSNBC - in an interview just completed. Todd repeatedly tried to trip Bright up on Common Core, but Bright was having none of it - calling one of Todd's questions "absurd" at one point. Todd's facial expression clearly showed disappointment, as he obviously thought he had some "gotcha" moments….but they all failed. I'll post video as soon as available.

As the Obamacare fiasco deepens and broadens, and one watches the panic enveloping Team Obama, which strategy looks more desperate: Defending the indefensible or savaging critics as somehow responsible for this mess? The spin control is actually amusing when you consider that it isn't Team Obama trying to influence the media. It's the media doing damage control for Team Obama. Both the offensive and defensive approaches are being tried at NBC and MSNBC. Even as journalists softly acknowledged that Obama's you-can-keep-your-insurance pledge was a cruel lie, the president's super friend and NBC anchor Brian Williams was all about the damage...

President Obama's narcissistic hits just keep on coming. Yesterday, we noted that in his interview with NBC's Chuck Todd, President Obama cast himself as the victim of the ObamaCare mess, complaining that "I've been burned" by the bad website. In a new clip from the interview that Todd aired during today's Daily Rundown, President Obama bragged "I can guarantee you that I have been more deeply involved in our intelligence operations on a whole set of areas where there real threats against us than just about any President." As with his victim whine, the prez caught himself and amended his...

OBAMA: So, the majority of folks will end up being better off, of course, because the website's not working right. They don’t necessarily know it right [now]. But, even though it's a small percentage of folks who may be disadvantaged, you know, it means a lot to them. And it's scary to them...

NBC News Chief White House Correspondent and MSNBC host Chuck Todd reported on Monday that tea party figures like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin helped scuttle a potential deal to raise the debt ceiling over the weekend when they led World War II veterans to march on the White House. Todd reported that the tea party Republicans are “doing everything they can” to keep the shutdown and debt ceiling standoff “alive.” “While the non-tea party Republicans are desperately trying to end this standoff, the tea party Republicans are doing everything they can to keep it...

NBC News political director Chuck Todd on Thursday labeled the new NBC miniseries about Hillary Rodham Clinton a “total nightmare” for the network’s news division — adding another voice to the increasing backlash against the project. “This is why this miniseries is a total nightmare for NBC News,” Todd said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “We know there’s this giant firewall. We know that we have nothing to do with it. We know that we’d love probably to be as critical or whatever it is going to be, if it comes out.” Todd added, though, that regardless of whether the Clintons...

First Chuck Todd, now Andrea Mitchell and even former Obama spox-turned-NBC-analyst Robert Gibbs agree: NBC's decision to produce a miniseries about Hillary Clinton is a "bad idea." Gibbs and Mitchell lamented the series on Andrea's early-afternoon MSNBC show today. View the video here.

Reporting the breaking news on Wednesday's NBC Today that President Obama had named U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to be national security advisor, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd portrayed Rice as a victim of Republican attacks: "Rice, who had become a Republican punching bag during the whole Benghazi controversy....this is a bit of a defiant move by the President to his Republican critics." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] Later on his 9 a.m. ET MSNBC show, The Daily Rundown, while discussing GOP opposition to Rice's promotion – and her nominated replacement as U.N. ambassador,...

Sure, it was just one of those tongue-tied moments we've all experienced. But if it had been George W. Bush mispronouncing the name of a world leader who is very much in the news, imagine the field day the MSM would have had with it. At his press appearance with British PM David Cameron today, aired on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports, President Obama was seen pronouncing the name of the Syrian dictator Bashir Assad as "Bassar Ashad." PBO pauses before pronouncing, seeming to sense he's about to get it wrong, but deciding to press ahead. There's another priceless moment: when...

Chuck Todd has defended the Obama admin's decision not to send more special ops to Benghazi. Appearing on today's Morning Joe, NBC News political director Todd claimed that the decision to send only two special ops to Benghazi was "very rational." He also literally laughed off the notion that Benghazi could boil into a major scandal. View the video after the jump.

NBC's Chuck Todd made some stunning statements Sunday about recent revelations concerning Syria's use of chemical weapons on its people. Appearing on Meet the Press, Todd first said the Administration regrets President Obama's claim that this would be a "red line" adding "They didn't want to go public last week that they had this early evidence" and only did so because "they knew Congress was going to get this briefing and it was all going to get out" (video follows with transcript and commentary): Chuck Todd: Obama Didn't Want To Go Public With Syrian Chemical Weapons Evidence CHUCK TODD: I...