***To read the full blog, please check out the complete post on NewsBusters***
In an outburst on Twitter on Saturday, NBC moderator Chuck Todd lashed out at “those trying to tar all media” with the dubious Buzzfeed story by suggesting they “aren’t interested in improving journalism but protecting themselves.” That irritation carried over to Sunday’s Meet the Press where he ended the show by decrying those people once again, despite “all media” pouncing on the now-debunked report to push impeachment for President Trump.
In the midst of their overall discussion of the Buzzfeed story, towards the end of the program, Todd turned to New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker so they could lament together.
“We could all say we did the ‘if trues’, and ‘if trues’, and we said ‘we could not confirm it’. And that's all true. But let’s – It was something the entire media world was telling the public, this is probably true. By the way, we covered this. Now, look,” Todd bemoaned.
Baker began by defending Buzzfeed and suggesting they have “gotten a lot of things right.” But he did admit “there was some credibility, it seemed like, on the front end to what they were saying…” He then noted that the folks at The Times “weren't able to confirm it the way it was reported. And I think that gave us obviously a lot of pause, and it should.”
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