Chuck Todd Slammed After Letting Sen. Kevin Cramer Spread ‘Blatant Lies’
On Sunday, NBC News anchor Chuck Todd interviewed Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. Cramer went on Meet the Press to defend President Donald Trump and express support for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election through legal challenges.
According to a video clip posted to Twitter by Vox journalist Aaron Rupar, Cramer alleged that liberal Democrats spied on the Trump administration and tried to overthrow the commander in chief by investigating his allegedly inappropriate dealings with the Russian government.
Rupar said that the senator spread “blatant lies” and noted that Todd “should’ve pushed back on them.”
Commentators, Democratic Party figures and journalists were quick to rip into Todd, slamming the anchor for apparently failing to challenge his guest.
In a tweet, historian Kevin M. Kruse said that Meet the Press should be canceled and accused Todd and NBC News of “actively doing harm.”
In a Twitter message, author David Rothkopf said that he is a “big fan” of MSNBC and noted that he often appears on the network’s shows. However, he argued that Todd has repeatedly failed to do his job and concluded that he should be replaced with someone else.
Political analyst Jared Yates Sexton tweeted that journalists like Todd “aren’t presenting news.” Rather, he wrote, “they’re covering politics as a game and critiquing strategies, legal, factual, or wholly made up.”
Radio host Michelangelo Signorile pointed out in a tweet that the anchor described Democrat Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the 2020 election during his interview with Cramer, asking “what the fu*k is this Chuck Todd?”
WATCH: Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) says "there has to be an end" to Trump's fight to reverse the vote.@SenKevinCramer: “It’s past time to start a transition, to at least cooperate with a transition. I'd rather have a president who has more than one day to prepare.” pic.twitter.com/joIsn7unz3
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) November 22, 2020
“He is an idiot waiting to be fired,” tweeted author Tomi T Ahonen.
“We shouldn’t have to go into 2021 with Chuck Todd as the host of Meet the Press,” writer Thor Benson tweeted.
“The only reason Chuck Todd is still on the air is that so many of you hate-watch him,” the liberal-leaning outlet Palmer Report wrote in a tweet, calling on Democrats to boycott the show.
“When Pat Toomey is more declarative than Chuck Todd, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate things,” adviser to former President Barack Obama Eric Schultz wrote in a Twitter message.
In a statement released on Saturday, Toomey — a Republican senator from the state of Pennsylvania — called on Trump to concede the race to Biden. Toomey released the statement after Judge Matthew Brann dismissed one of the Trump campaign’s key lawsuits.
Trump has not yet conceded the race and maintains that Democrats committed widespread electoral fraud to remove him from office.
