NBC Kicks David Gregory To The Curb and Tries To Gloss Over Meet The Press Disaster

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:20 am

gregory-mtp-tribute

NBC did their best to gloss over the disaster that was David Gregory on Meet The Press. It was telling that after almost six years of hosting, the best they could do was three clips lasting for thirty seconds.

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Transcript:

ANDREA MITCHELL:

As you may be aware, David Gregory’s final show as moderator of Meet the Press was last Sunday. Meet the Press makes a lot of history. And a great deal of it was with David at the helm since he started in December 2008.

(BEGIN TAPE)

ANDREA MITCHELL:

Vice President Joe Biden made front-page news when he got ahead of the president in 2012 and embraced gay marriage.

JOE BIDEN (ON TAPE):

I am absolutely comfortable.

ANDREA MITCHELL:

And an important moment of the 2012 presidential primary, when David moderated a GOP debate live on a Sunday morning just two days before the New Hampshire primary. Then there was David’s landmark interview in Afghanistan, 2010 with General David Petraeus, after he took command of U.S. and NATO forces.

Before taking the Meet the Press chair, David had a stellar eight years covering presidential politics at the White House for NBC News, where he covered George W. Bush from the first primaries to 9/11, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 20 years with NBC News, David has done it all. The O.J. Simpson trial, Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing. Today Show guest-hosted.

DAVID GREGORY (ON TAPE):

And how you doing?

ANDREA MITCHELL:

And when the cameras weren’t rolling, dead-on imitations of everyone from the president of the United States to Tom Brokaw. Through all the years, David has been truly the traditions of this program and NBC News.

DAVID GREGORY (ON TAPE):

If it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.

(END TAPE)

ANDREA MITCHELL:

On Thursday, David tweeted, “I leave NBC as I came, humbled and grateful. I love journalism,” he wrote, “and sitting as moderator of Meet the Press was the highest honor there is. I have great respect for my colleagues at NBC News and wish them all well. To the viewers, I say thank you.” As David leaves NBC News for his next adventure, I will miss him as a daily colleague. But I know he will always be a friend. We’ll be back with more right after this.

According to NBC, “a lot of history consists of three clips.” They spent more time reading David Gregory’s tweet then there was actual video of the former moderator doing anything noteworthy on Meet The Press. Even the tribute package to Gregory couldn’t hide what a failure his stint was leading Meet The Press. The “tribute” had all the feeling of telling him don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

NBC couldn’t whitewash the failure. They probably would have been better off not even trying. It is obvious that they are blaming David Gregory for all of the problems with the show, when the big issue the stale and stuffy nature of the Sunday morning shows.

NBC News didn’t do Gregory any favors by letting him twist in the wind after months of speculation that he was going to be fired. There isn’t a big enough video package in the world to hide the fact that NBC is happy to see David Gregory go.

The bottom line is that it was a new week, a new moderator, but the same uninspired Meet The Press.



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