The NBC host on his show 'Meet The Press' on Sunday played a clip of Attorney General William Barr's CBS interview, deceptively depicting the AG as uninterested in upholding the rule of law.
In the CBS interview Catherine Herridge asked Barr about the decision to drop the prosecution of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. She asked Barr how he thinks history will record his decision.
During a discussion of the interview, Todd played a clip of the AG saying, "Well, history is written by the winners, so it largely depends on who’s writing the history."
The NBC host then blatantly lied to viewers: "I was struck, Peggy, by the cynicism of the answer. It’s a correct answer, but he’s the attorney general. He didn’t make the case that he was upholding the rule of law. He was almost admitting that, yeah, this is a political job."
Full transcript of the interview shows that the AG was joking when he made the comment that Todd played. Barr specifically addressed the 'rule of law,' the part that the NBC host left out.
Here is Barr's full comment: "Well, history is written by the winner. So it largely depends on who’s writing the history. But I think a fair history would say that it was a good decision because it upheld the rule of law. It helped, it upheld the standards of the Department of Justice, and it undid what was an injustice."
The AG's spokeswoman Kerri Kupec(@KerriKupecDOJ) responded on Twitter: "Very disappointed by the deceptive editing/commentary by @ChuckTodd on @MeetThePress on AG Barr’s CBS interview. Compare the two transcripts below. Not only did the AG make the case in the VERY answer Chuck says he didn’t, he also did so multiple times throughout the interview.
Also, no mention by Todd that the AG spent a large portion of the CBS interview explaining the legal reasoning supporting the request for dismissal. The full transcript has been available on CBS’ website since Thursday night, including the answer NBC aired in its edited form."
The backlash against Chuck Todd and NBC was swift on social media. President Trump in a series of tweets called for the firing of the liberal democrat host by NBC.
"Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd should be FIRED by “Concast” (NBC) for this fraud. He knew exactly what he was doing. Public Airwaves = Fake News!" Trump wrote. "THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. Sadly, our Lamestream Media is TOTALLY CORRUPT!"