NBC News anchor Chuck Todd is taking heat for asking Joe Biden if he thought President Trump has “blood on his hands” for his actions on battling the coronavirus.
“Do you think there is blood on the president’s hands considering the slow response?” Todd asked the former vice president during an interview on “Meet the Press.” “Or is that too harsh of a criticism?”
Even Biden, who is expected to win the Democratic presidential nomination and face off with Trump in November, thought Todd had gone over the line.
“I think that’s a little too harsh,” Biden said. “I think … he should stop thinking out loud and start thinking deeply. … He should listen to the health experts. He should listen to his economists.”
Todd got hit hard on social media for asking the question.
“Tim Russert would never ask a question like this. Even Joe Biden didn’t take the bait to assist in a viral moment attempt,” The Hill media reporter Joe Concha said, referring to Todd’s “Meet The Press” predecessor, who was known for his even-handed interviews.
“Chuck Todd served as a moderator of an NBC News debate on Feb 19, which was more than two weeks after President Trump suspended travel from China. Number of questions Todd asked any of the candidates about Coronavirus? Zero,” Concha wrote.
Tim Russert would never ask a question like this. Even Joe Biden didn’t take the bait to assist in a viral moment attempt. https://t.co/yxyWgk09Xq
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) March 29, 2020
Others also ripped Todd for the question. “Infuriating, Rage-inducing media gaslighting,” Turning Point USA chief creative officer Benny Johnson said. “Chuck Todd asks if Trump has ‘blood’ on his hands for ‘slow Coronavirus response.’ In Jan. Trump was banning China travel, creating China Virus task force, media was calling him racist & frothing Impeachment.”
Infuriating, Rage-inducing media gaslighting:
Chuck Todd asks if Trump has “blood” on his hands for “slow Coronavirus response”
In Jan. Trump was banning China travel, creating China Virus task force, media was calling him racist & frothing Impeachment
pic.twitter.com/iW46XvBvG2— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 29, 2020
GOP rapid response director Steve Guest said Todd was “completely unhinged.” “When Chuck Todd’s attacks on @realDonaldTrump are too much for even Biden, you got a problem,” Guest wrote on Twitter.
NBC's Chuck Todd is COMPLETELY UNHINGED this morning.
Chuck Todd: "Do you think there is blood on the President's hands?"
Joe Biden: "I think that's a little too harsh."
When Chuck Todd's attacks on @realDonaldTrump are too much for even Biden, you got a problem. pic.twitter.com/nzm82f8Ghf
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) March 29, 2020
Others piled on. “Chuck should be embarrassed for even asking such a question. Just another reminder why the media polls worse than the virus,” wrote one person on Twitter.
“Chuck needs to try and become a journalist, Tim Russert is rolling over in his grave,” wrote another.
“Also, the oldest and lowest trick in the interview book: bury your opinion in the question so it’s confirmed, w/o scrutiny, by the answer. ‘Since we all know this guy killed his wife, do you think he can get a fair trial in this jurisdiction?'” wrote another.
Chuck should be embarrassed for even asking such a question. Just another reminder why the media polls worse than the virus.
— Seizer Pouncicus, Esq. (@SeizerPouncicus) March 29, 2020
Chuck needs to try and become a journalist, Tim Russert is rolling over in his grave
— Irish Shell (@shellymarmie) March 29, 2020
Also, the oldest and lowest trick in the interview book: bury your opinion in the question so it's confirmed, w/o scrutiny, by the answer. "Since we all know this guy killed his wife, do you think he can get a fair trial in this jurisdiction?"
— Indie Voyce (@IndieVoyce) March 29, 2020
Todd told Rolling Stone magazine last year that he is approaching Republicans and others on “the right” with more skepticism and reporting on their claims in a less “naive” way than he had in the past.
“The first Sunday of the Trump administration is when the phrase, ‘alternative facts’ was debuted,” he said. “It was on Meet the Press that [former New York City mayor] Rudy Giuliani used the phrase ‘Truth isn’t truth.’”
“So look, whether we’d liked it or not, our platform has been used, or they’ve attempted to use our platform to essentially disseminate, or to sort of, what I would say, is lay the groundwork for this,” Todd said.