This week’s Mainstream Media Scream features Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd at a media dinner pledging that the press isn’t the opposition, but “simply a voice of truth.”
At the Radio Television Digital News Foundation’s “2018 First Amendment Awards” held Thursday night, at D.C.’s Marriott Marquis Hotel, Todd was presented with the group’s First Amendment Award.
Two days later, President Trump campaigning in Pittsburgh called Todd, “a sleeping son of a bitch. I’ll tell you.”
NBC’s Chuck Todd at the March 8 dinner:
“One thing we’re not is the opposition. We’ve never tried to be part of the political debate, but people want to drag us into it. We shouldn’t take the bait. We’re simply a voice of truth. There’s no balance, there’s just fairness and truth. And a true voice and the truth is what we all need to be hearing right now. A voice that no matter how many disparaging tweets or calls of fake news, we can’t let it be silenced….
“There’s plenty of people trying to undermine what we do for a living. There’s plenty of people that motivated to undermine us for their own gain – political, financial, or whatever. Just keep that in mind. We just need to be fair, credible, honest, and most importantly, transparent. Because I believe in the 21st century, transparency is the new objectivity.”
Epic crowd in Moon Township, Pennsylvania tonight. Thank you! Get out on Tuesday and VOTE for Rick @Saccone4PA18. Together, we are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/ckbCOsDQ2l
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018
Media Research Center Vice President of Research Brent Baker explains our weekly pick: “Todd’s ludicrous arrogance, about how journalists are ‘dragged’ into the political world and are only after ‘the truth,’ no doubt is part of what fueled President Trump’s ‘sleeping eyes’ slam of him. A year ago, barely two months after Trump took office, Todd asked of the Trump presidency: ‘Is it on the brink of collapse?’ Was that part delivering ‘fairness and truth’?”
Rating: Four out of five screams.
