good fucking riddance to Chuck Fucking Todd

Todd was the worst of the both-sides dipshits

“JOURNALISM 101 RULE: If someone says it’s raining, and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out of the fucking window and find out which is true. — Now more than ever.”
— attributed to many, made famous on twitter by Andrea Junker

Chuck Todd never looked out the fucking window. not once.

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yesterday, Todd announced that he would be stepping down as host of Meet the Press, where he’d been stinking up the joint for the last nine years.

good riddance.

Chuck Todd never met a lie he didn’t let go unchallenged.

At numerous points throughout the interview, Todd let Trump get away with blatant falsehoods and gaslighting. Todd also teed up a number of softball questions for the president.

Chuck Todd never met an issue he couldn’t both-sides.

What's in those classified documents at President Biden's home and private office?

Chuck Todd never met a situation he couldn’t find a way to make about himself.

Todd’s focus on the “entertainment” aspect of politics coverage is often in evidence—for example, in his own recent performance as moderator in the Democratic presidential debate. He managed to talk more than all but three of the candidates, even as he demanded that they keep their own answers brief.

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but the worst thing — the worst fucking thing — about Todd is that not only did he never look out that window to see if it was raining, he insisted quite openly that it wasn’t his job to look out that window.

here’s exhibit A, from 2013:

Todd responded to Ed Rendell’s claim that Obamacare opponents are full of misinformation about the program by explaining that this was because Republicans “have successfully messaged against it.” But wasn’t journalism’s job to expose misinformation? No, Todd insisted; if the public was misinformed about the Affordable Care Act, it was the president’s fault for not pushing back:

What I always love is people say, “Well, it’s you folks’ fault in the media.” No, it’s the president of the United States’ fault for not selling it.

got that? if it’s raining outside, and the Republicans tell you that the sun is shining, it’s not Chuck Fucking Todd’s job to tell you to pack an umbrella. it’s your own fucking fault that you got wet. maybe next time, guess better at who’s telling the truth.

I’m sorry, but this is the exact fucking opposite of journalism.

Chuck Todd didn’t invent all of the ills that plague the media today, but as host of one of the longest-running Sunday shows, he was its most-visible malpractor.

Chuck Todd’s departure won’t fix what’s wrong with journalism, but it’s a good start.