Todd calls Mueller hearing an optics disaster for Democrats

“Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd on Wednesday called former special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony “a disaster” for Democrats from an optics perspective.

“On substance, the Democrats got what they wanted,” Todd noted during a panel discussion anchored by NBC’s Lester Holt.

{mosads}”They got him to confirm that he didn’t make a charge because of the Justice Department memo. He confirmed that you can still indict [President Trump] on these charges after he leaves office. And he seemed to confirm the idea that under any other circumstance, he likely would have filed some charges.”

“But he provided such, what do you call it, uncomfortable clarity?” Todd continued. “As they [Democrats] were using him for clarity, he’d somehow fog it up in how he’d do certain things. So look, on optics, this was a disaster,” Todd concluded.

The sentiment echoed remarks earlier by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, who called the hearing “a disaster for the Democrats” and “for the reputation of Robert Mueller” during a discussion on the network that was retweeted by Trump.

Todd’s argument saw some pushback from the left on social media, including by 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass).

“The constitution doesn’t say anything about optics,” Moulton wrote to his 144,000 followers.

The constitution doesn’t say anything about optics. https://t.co/Mxbf1mBKZz

— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) July 24, 2019

Mueller’s testimony to the House Intelligence Committee is expected to wrap up late Wednesday afternoon.