Chuck Todd: 'We Declined' WH's Offer to Send Deputy Press Sec. as Guest Instead of Senior Official

[DonViejo]

Source: Mediaite



by Justin Baragona | 11:13 am, February 26th, 2017

During today’s broadcast of Meet the Press, host Chuck Todd addressed the audience and explained why there was nobody on today’s program representing the White House.

“As we always do, we asked the White House for any of a number of senior officials to join us the morning,” Todd noted. “Especially Cabinet secretaries; we always ask for them.”

He continued, “Ultimately, instead of suggesting a senior administration official or Cabinet secretary, the White House offered a deputy press secretary. And so we declined.”

This comes on the heels of President Donald Trump once again railing against the mainstream media during his CPAC speech last week, which was then followed by certain outlets being blocked from a White House press gaggle. Trump then took to Twitter yesterday to state that he will not be attending the White House Correspondents Dinner this year.

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Read more: http://www.mediaite.com/online/mtps-chuck-todd-we-declined-whs-offer-to-send-deputy-press-sec-as-guest-instead-of-senior-official/

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video @ link, above

[Ilsa]

1. Glad chuckie is getting on board. nt

[calimary]

4. Good Grief he's even fact-checking.

Ol' Chuckie is seeing the light.

I think it'd be cool to have an across-the-board boycott of trump-team guests on ALL these shows.

WHY do we need to keep hearing from them anyway? Too many of 'em can't even be counted on to tell the truth.

[Chemisse]

2. Good. They are only hurting themselves.

I'm glad NBC & Chuck Todd didn't accept a token rep.

[madaboutharry]

3. That would be Sarah Huckebee.

Sarah Huckabee is deputy press secretary.

Who knows what her job duties are? Sometimes you see her sitting behind Trump taking notes.

[calimary]

5. I think that was a bone thrown to her dad, failed perennial presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee.

I'm enjoying throwing the word "failed" into some of my comments these days, especially considering how often trump likes using it. But I do it in honor of truth-telling, and to correct the record.

[Paladin]

6. I like Chuck Todd's new spine. It's very much needed, at present. (nt)

[Greensix1]

7. The deputy press secretary

Having the deputy press secretary come on to explain government policy is totally useless. Who needs another White House liar on their program? They can just post what the Orangutan spouts off on Twitter instead of having someone come on and lie for him.

[Blue Idaho]

8. I hope other news agencies follow suit.

The WH needs the Press more than the Press needs the WH. Since members of this administration have proven to be a pack of liars - there is no advantage to putting them on the air. Report the WH press releases, bring on experts to debunk their lies, and move on.

Let's see how long the Narcissist can handle being snubbed and silenced by the "real news" press. That could be really fun!

[uppityperson]

9. K&R

[BadGimp]

10. Question for my fellow DUERS:: WHAT should WE be doing about this?

Clearly, if the citizens stand by and let Trump and his followers carry on with this War on the Media, we will bear part of the collateral damage.

I can clearly see how the Indivisible movement and others are having a positive impact. So then it makes sense that there is a path forward for us on this issue.

Engaging the extreme right and the President on this is not any different imo than what we do when we engage our representatives on any other issue.

I fear if we do not act and act in unison, our democracy will suffer greatly and we will long regret not taking strong action when we had the chance.

[murielm99]

11. Indivisible groups can make statements about

the war on the press. They can support them by subscribing to the newspapers most assailed by trump and co. If the talking heads are finally doing them jobs, we can support them by watching their programs. We can boycott companies that advertise on Fox or Breitbart, if possible. We can do that individually, if nothing else. Remember, none of the people angry with trump were organized at first. They came to town halls and marches on their own. They were not paid. We stand together now.

I have been a member of the Southern Poverty Law Center for a long time. The groups they fight have always been on the fringes and hiding under rocks. Trump has brought them out from the fringes and he has overturned the rocks. These groups will always be around, but we need to marginalize them again. Their numbers are not as large as you think. Many people had not heard of Breitbart or the alt-right, or any of the other slime until after the election.

Yes, the media fell down on the job. But if they are trying to do better now, we need to help them.

[Cosmocat]

12. This is a full on move to further isolate their pods

From reality.

It's an aggressive move to do so, they choose to live in their bubble.

The question is, why?

[ginnyinWI]

13. I think everybody should support the news with some kind of subscription:

Either NYTimes, WaPost, Atlantic--some kind of media that reports real news. Become a PBS member, or NPR member. Vote with your wallet to keep information accurate and available!

At our house, we get the digital NYT daily, the digital Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the digital The Nation, and the paper version of the Atlantic. And are members of the local PBS and NPR affiliates.

[csziggy]

14. ACLU is starting with Resistance Training March 11, in Miami

And is asking people to host local groups to view the event:

I want ask you to do something big and important in response to the unprecedented threat of President Trump's attack on our basic freedoms.

On March 11, we are holding a Resistance Training in Miami, Florida. This event will launch People Power, our effort to engage grassroots volunteers across the country. And what we want to do is organize THOUSANDS of grassroots events in communities across the country to watch the livestream as we organize ourselves to take the fight against Donald Trump's policies not just into the courts, but into the streets.

I want you to sign up today to organize an event in your community. Whether it's in your home, a local theater, a library, or anywhere else, we're gonna make this easy for you. We'll walk you through everything. You just need a screen, speakers, and wifi and we'll help with the rest. What do you say?

https://go.peoplepower.org

We are in the fight of our lives right now, and what we have learned since Donald Trump's inauguration is that there is a growing army of people out there who want to be asked to do something big and important in response. So that's what we're going to do.

Anthony for the ACLU Action team

I can't do it - I already have a commitment for that day that I might have to cancel since my husband is having surgery on March 7.

Be warned - in order to sign up for updates at the site you have to provide a cell phone number and agree to accept texts. I tried to sign up with just my email and they will not let the form go through.