David Gregory Is Toast as Chuck Todd and Joe Scarborough Fight For Meet The Press Gig

Don't Miss Sarah Jones's Essay On Kristi Noem Titled Predatory Is The Point On The Daily.

A new report says that David Gregory is toast as host of Meet The Press and that Chuck Todd and Joe Scarborough are battling to replace him.

Lloyd Grove at The Daily Beast followed up on yesterday’s report on Gregory’s expected dumping from Meet The Press:

In multiple conversations that I had with people inside and outside NBC after the item appeared, it was taken as a given that Gregory is toast.

…

In multiple conversations that I had with people inside and outside NBC, it was taken as a given that Gregory is toast.
The principal pretenders to the MTP throne are NBC News’ chief White House correspondent and political director, Chuck Todd—who anchors The Daily Rundown, MSNBC’s weekday 9 a.m. show—and the cohosts of the three-hour-long Morning Joe program that precedes it, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

According to my sources, Scarborough, 51, a Washington-savvy former Republican congressman from Florida, and Brzezinski, 47, the supremely well-connected daughter of former White House national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, have been aggressively angling for the job in the event of Gregory’s all-but-certain demise.

NBC can keep denying it, but it is obvious that someone is sowing the seeds for David Gregory’s firing.

Joe Scarborough posted a tweet stating that the story is false:

There have been numerous stories with NBC News sources saying that Mika and I have been “aggressively angling” for MTP. That is false.

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) <a href=”https://twitter.com/JoeNBC/statuses/492341134404767745″>July 24, 2014

It is possible, but not probable that two stories in two days that quote people inside NBC saying that David Gregory is going to be fired could be wrong, but it seems like a mighty big coincidence that both of these stories also named Todd and Scarborough as the two that are vying to replace him.

Joe Scarborough would be a disaster for Meet The Press. MTP likes at least to create the illusion of playing it down the middle. There is no mistaking where the former Republican congressman comes from. If a report from last year is to be believed, NBC is seriously considering changing Meet The Press so that it would be more like Morning Joe.

Chuck Todd wouldn’t be much of departure from what David Gregory is doing now. Todd is a frequent panelist on Meet The Press, and he is loaded with the same Beltway groupthink that plagues Gregory’s version of the show. NBC would be wise to go out of house to bring in a fresh voice for the program, but they seem hellbent on taking one of their least popular talents on MSNBC and elevating them to Meet The Press.

Gregory’s stint on the show has been bad, but replacing him with a Chuck Todd or Joe Scarborough could be even worse.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association