Chuck Todd’s Non-Confession

Chuck Todd: “The only thing I can chalk it up to is this — whatever you want to call it — this fear that some members of the media had sometimes that they would be perceived as helping Trump if they somehow diminished Biden."

"And I think this has been the fundamental mistake that many members of the traditional press have done.”

Kudos to Chuck Todd for his public acknowledgment that "the media" was less than candid about Biden’s physical and mental health throughout his time as leader of the free world. For reasons discussed below, Todd’s statement was woefully inadequate. Nonetheless, it is more than anything said by his peers.

First and foremost, it is not an apology. There is no remorse. It is an acknowledgment of a “mistake” —by unnamed others. An understandable mistake in Todd’s eye.

In addition, the acknowledgment came long after the time when such recognition would have been timely and relevant. The acknowledgment is further diminished because it came after Todd lost his prominent perch inside the establishment media. There was absolutely nothing brave about this acknowledgment, as Todd had nothing to lose by making it.

It was not merely tardy and unbrave. It was weak and misleading. It ignored the heart of the matter. Todd frames the media’s dilemma as a choice between a senile Biden and an evil Trump. The “mistake” was in taking sides — violating a journalist’s oath of political neutrality.

Nowhere does Todd acknowledge that the real choice was not Biden v. Trump, but was instead Truth v. Lies, or Truth v. Coverup. Nowhere does Todd acknowledge that choosing anything other than Truth should be a fireable offense. According to Todd, truth was never a relevant consideration.

In Todd’s world, a journalist is someone who seeks to influence others to do the "right" thing. Truth and credibility are important only in the sense that having credibility increases your ability to influence. If Todd decides the "right" thing is to vote for Biden, then his job is to lie for Biden in a way that avoids getting caught.

Next, Todd’s acknowledgment of past lying by others continues with himself repeating the central falsehood — Trump is so bad that lying is appropriate.

Finally, the most revealing part of the non-confession was the acknowledgment of just how weak his peers’ commitment to journalistic integrity is. The "mistake" was not motivated by greed or a lust for power. They didn’t tell the truth about Biden because they thought their friends and peers would not invite them to lunch.

For over three years the media insisted Trump was Putin’s puppet. Ultimately, the accusation was proven to be a complete hoax. Not a single apology. Not a single expression of regret. Next was four years of steadfast refusal to see blatant evidence of Biden family corruption and four years of telling us not to believe what we saw with our own eyes — that Joe Biden was unfit for duty. Again, not a single apology. Not a single expression of regret.

Thanks, Chuck, for a belated, squishy acknowledgment that someone else made an understandable mistake of some kind. Of course we’ll trust you in the future.

G-Pub