NBC’s Guthrie slammed by left, right over interview with Covington student Sandmann

NBC “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie was criticized by the left and the right on Wednesday following her interview with Nick Sandmann, the Covington High School student at the center of a weekend controversy at the Lincoln Memorial.

Liberals criticized Guthrie and “Today” for giving Sandmann a national platform, while conservatives criticized her for asking if he should apologize to Native American activist Nathan Phillips.

Sandmann and Phillips are at the center of a media firestorm over their interaction at the Lincoln Memorial.

{mosads}Sandmann and a group of his classmates were in Washington for the March for Life rally when they ran into Phillips. Viral video initially appeared to show the two in some kind of confrontation, with Sandmann and other students seemingly mocking the activist, who was beating a drum and singing.

Other videos subsequently suggested that initial video was selectively edited and shown out of context, and that the meeting was hardly confrontational.

This has led to heavy criticism of the media and people on social media who shared the initial video and showered the students from Covington with criticism.

Guthrie’s interview was promoted by NBC’s official social media pages on Tuesday, drawing a visceral reaction from some of the left.

Sitting down with Nicholas Sandmann – the student at the center of the protest controversy at the Lincoln Memorial. Airs tomorrow on @TODAYshow pic.twitter.com/oSb8ljunQN

— Savannah Guthrie (@SavannahGuthrie) January 22, 2019

Do you think Pepe the Frog is available for Thursday’s show? Can Dylann Roof do a segment from prison? Heart-to-heart with some Fentanyl traffickers?

— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) January 22, 2019

Please send me the link to the shows where you sat down with the parents of #LaquanMcDonald, #TamirRice, #TrayvonMartin, and a host of other innocent Black boys who were killed & had their reputations smeared by bigoted wypipo to justify their murders.https://t.co/UrjCdPNWpi

— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) January 22, 2019

Guthrie’s voice drips with white-on-white empathy. His with white smugness still. https://t.co/Ht7trdOJeW

— Jeff Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) January 22, 2019

Sounds awesome! Will you be digging up Hitler’s corpse for a fun dialogue on Thursday as well Savannah?

— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) January 22, 2019

Imagine if a black kid would have done something disrespectful to a white woman that went viral, I doubt they would be getting the Today Show love. This is white supremacy and media working together.

— Robert Littal (@BSO) January 22, 2019

Conservatives also took issue with the interview, but because of one question regarding whether the student saw his “own fault in any way” during his interaction with Phillips.

“Do you feel from this experience that you owe anybody an apology? Do you see your own fault in any way?” Guthrie asked Sandmann.

“As far as standing there, I had every right to do so,” he replied. “I was not disrespectful to Mr. Phillips.”

After the media relentlessly smeared Nick Sandmann, NBC’s Savannah Guthrie asks: “Do you feel from this experience that you owe anybody an apology? Do you see your own fault in any way?”

Sandmann: “As far as standing there, I had every right to do so”pic.twitter.com/5hJk5shszX

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 22, 2019

Why is the media STILL asking Nick Sandmann (MAGA smirk kid) to apologize? He did absolutely NOTHING wrong. pic.twitter.com/I4aRCtVl6V

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) January 23, 2019

This is a despicable & leading question.

TODAY SHOW: “You’re wrong. Why don’t you see your faults? Apologize.”

Nick: “Um, I just stood there.”

God Bless this kid for standing his ground against the SJW outrage mob that is the establishment media https://t.co/lyslqAsjpC

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 22, 2019

“Apologize for WHAT!?!?!” https://t.co/PHW3gw6g8n

— Larry O’Connor (@LarryOConnor) January 23, 2019

Why is Guthrie putting words in his mouth?

Listen to how she emphasizes “your own fault”

This is not the right way to treat a child. Shame on NBC https://t.co/P5VN6XoFm7

— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) January 23, 2019

Phillips is offering to travel as a “delegate representing the international coalition behind the Indigenous Peoples March to Covington Catholic High School in Northern Kentucky and have a dialog about cultural appropriation, racism, and the importance of listening to and respecting diverse cultures,” according to the Lakota People’s Law Project and CBS News.

During his interview with Guthrie, Sandmann also said he would like to sit down with Phillips.

“I respect him. I’d like to talk to him,” the 15-year-old student said.

“In hindsight, I wish we could have walked away and avoided the whole thing.”