Fox News’s Kurtz calls Chuck Todd’s explanation ‘lame’
Fox News media analyst Howard Kurtz called NBC’s Chuck Todd’s explanation for airing a misleading clip of Attorney General William Barr on Sunday “lame,” with the “Media Buzz” host saying Todd’s failure to check the full transcript of a days-old interview was “sheer journalistic sloppiness.”
Todd apologized for the clip from CBS News on Tuesday. He said that while NBC didn’t edit the clip, it should have checked a transcript before running it and commenting on it.
The clip and Todd’s commentary suggested Barr had decided to drop charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn for political reasons.
“I have to focus on how lame the explanation was because as you heard Todd say, his staff said they only looked at the shorter CBS clip and not the longer CBS clip and hadn’t even bothered to check the full transcript,” Kurtz said in reaction.
Barr’s interview with CBS News senior investigative reporter Catherine Herridge was filmed on May 7, three days before “Meet the Press” aired on Sunday.
“This wasn’t breaking news,” Kurtz noted. “The CBS interview with the attorney general had taken place a couple of days earlier, so the most benign explanation would be that it was sheer journalistic sloppiness.
“But I’m a little suspicious of that,” he added. “These media mistakes always seem to go against Donald Trump and his team.”
The president called on Todd to be fired in a May 10 tweet.
Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd should be FIRED by “Concast” (NBC) for this fraud. He knew exactly what he was doing. Public Airwaves = Fake News! @AjitPaiFCC @FCC https://t.co/fLTDhjMXo4
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2020
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