“Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd got worked up while discussing his lack of access to President Obama, saying he once offered him an entire episode to explain Obamacare with “f–ing charts and graphs.”
Todd stopped by “Keepin’ It 1600,” the political podcast from Bill Simmons that is hosted by former Obama Administration staffers Dan Pfeiffer and Jon Favreau.
“I think you guys didn’t make the effort to come to the mainstream media,” Todd said. “You could have had an impact yourself and made no effort.”
He continued, “I think I remember pitching, ‘Hey, what if you did an explanatory on healthcare with f–ing charts and graphs. Let’s go. You get the full hour.’”
Pfeiffer, who worked as a senior communications advisor for Obama, confirmed that Todd offered an entire hour for Obama to explain his healthcare plan, which was denied, though Pfeiffer couldn’t remember why. However he did attempt to explain why the president isn’t as accessible as his predecessors.
“The reason we go to Marc Maron‘s garage or Vox is not some judgment call that they are better,” Pfeiffer said before Todd interrupted.
“But you give them 45 minutes. Give me 45 minutes. Let’s do 45 minutes and I guarantee you it’s gonna be a substantive conversation,” Todd said. “Stop trying to go to Vox and some dude’s garage to diversify your outreach.”
Maybe Todd has a point, as “Meet the Press” has been on a significant ratings streak.
“Meet the Press” has been the most-watched Sunday public affairs show in the key news demo of adults age 25-54 for 10 consecutive weeks, winning by double-digits each time. In less than two years since Todd took over, it has gone from No. 3 to No. 1, which is something “MTP” legend Tim Russert took three years to accomplish.
Last week, “Meet the Press” won across the board with 3.678 million total viewers.