NBC’s Chuck Todd Defends CNN — Calls Trump Admin’s War on the Press ‘a War on the Truth’

Wednesday on MSNBC’s “MTP Daily,” host Chuck Todd defended CNN after they retracted a report on Russia and three staffers resigned.

Todd said the White House’s “war on the media” is a “war on the truth.”

Partial transcript as follows:

TODD Welcome back. Tonight—well, not just tonight—but I’m obsessed with the White House’s war on the press and on media. Let’s be clear about this, that war is nothing less than a war on the truth. Do we get it right all the time? Nope, we don’t. And when we don’t, we run a correction, and in some cases, people lose their jobs. That’s what just happened at CNN. CNN took responsibility for its mistakes. At this network, we’ve done it quite a few times publicly as well. But because we try to get it right. We take what we do seriously, because trust, viewers and readers’ trust is all we have, and without that we’re nothing. We all know we get fired for not telling the truth. And of course that’s the point, isn’t it? Of course, the White House attacks, delegitimizes the media to create running room for its version of events. It’s as old as media itself. The White House is not above using anonymous sources to criticize the use of anonymous sources. Nor to promote what it admits could be a lie to call others liars. Here’s Sarah Huckabee Sanders attacking CNN in an unbelievable way. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUCKABEE SANDERS: There’s a video circulating now, whether it’s accurate or not, I don’t know. But I would encourage everybody in this room, and frankly everybody across the country, to take a look at it. I think if it is accurate, I think it’s a disgrace to all of the media, to all of journalism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Excuse me? You got that? I don’t know whether it’s accurate or not, but go take a look at it because it disgraces you? Seriously? And that’s been this White House’s M.O. Pedal a false story to claim the media is telling false stories. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was just a bit more honest apparently about the White House’s dishonesty. So no, Mr. President, no, White House press shop, the media is not the enemy of the people. We’re just here to find, as Carl Bernstein put it so well, the best obtainable version of the truth. It can hurt you, it can hurt us and, yes, even you, Mr. President.

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