NBC News political director and White House correspondent Chuck Todd praised the RNC for its decision to boycott CNN and NBC networks on Monday, calling the decision "smart."
The RNC framed the presidential primary debate ban as a response to the networks' plans to air Hillary Clinton specials and give publicity to the potential Democratic presidential candidate.
Despite the party's public statements, Todd thought the decision was motivated by a desire to scale down the number of debates. He said fewer debates would allow the GOP to weed out an "underbelly of candidates."
On an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Todd defined that subset of candidates as people who have no realistic chance of winning the nomination but want the "exposure to get a talk show, or exposure to get a video deal or a columnist or a video deal with Fox or whatever."
Also read: NBC News' Chuck Todd Blasts Hillary Clinton Miniseries: It's a Total Nightmare
"That is smart, tactical politics," Todd added.
Todd, who has been critical of NBC's plans to air a Hillary Clinton miniseries in 2014, calling it "a total nightmare" two weeks ago, couldn't resist getting in one last dig at the RNC.
"Imagine if the RNC put the same effort that they've been putting in this to get immigration reform passed," he said.
"I think they might've gotten that done by now."
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