David Gregory: “famously left-leaning” advocate of austerity, defender of banks and promoter of CEOs.
There’s been plenty of chatter about what NBC needs to do to rescue its Sunday show Meet the Press. This coming Sunday will be the debut of a new host, the electoral horserace-obsessed political junkie Chuck Todd. But it’s not the only change; according to the New York Post‘s Page Six (9/3/14), NBC will be giving Sunday show viewers more chances to see the right-leaning Joe Scarborough and Luke Russert—whose father Tim was the longtime host of the show. The pair—who are both already seen quite regularly on MSNBC—will presumably appear as roundtable pundits.
The New York Post being, well, the New York Post, sees the moves through a left-wing-media-bias prism:
We’re told the move is part of a plan to bring a right-leaning voice to the program to appeal to viewers turned off by the show’s famously left-leaning former hosts, including the ousted David Gregory.
No sensible viewer of Meet the Press could ever possibly think the program lacked for right-leaning guests. The Sunday shows have long been dominated by conservative and Republican guests (Extra!, 4/12; Media Matters, 2/14/06), so Scarborough will be just one more conservative white guy.
As for Gregory—”famously left-leaning” to whom? The Post doesn’t offer any specifics on that score, but that’s typical right-wing media criticism: The corporate media are full of left-wingers because we’ve said so for a long time.
A quick overview of Gregory’s record doesn’t turn up much evidence of leaning to the left—but plenty to the contrary. There was, of course, Gregory’s famous question (6/23/13) to journalist Glenn Greenwald:
To the extent that you have aided and abetted Snowden, even in his current movements, why shouldn’t you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime?
Gregory’s tenure was full of similar episodes. He embraced cuts to Social Security and Medicare as necessary fiscal medicine (“the hard choices that Americans are going to have to make”). He’s been an advocate for austerity measures, and criticized Obama from the right for his failure to embrace CEOs—which happened to be inaccurate anyway.
He warned against excessive criticism of banks, and falsely claimed that “anybody who gets a paycheck in this country” was paying a new Obamacare surtax that actually applied to income over $200,000. He referred to problems with the Affordable Care Act website as Obama’s Iraq War.
In a series of shows focused on the Afghan War, he failed to include critics of Obama’s escalation plan. (“The question now for the American public is whether it has the stomach and the will to do what it takes to succeed here.”) He falsely referred to Iran’s “nuclear weapons program,” and inaccurately suggested “the world” was united in stopping it.
He presented a “debate”—in the year 2014!—over whether climate change was actually happening, featuring a climate-denying congressmember and TV science host Bill Nye. And he heaped praise on controversial corporate-style education reformer Michelle Rhee.
That’s just off the top of my head, and doesn’t even include that whole dancing-behind-Karl-Rove thing.
If Gregory has some famous left-wing outbursts, I would love to hear what they are.
The New York Post was correct that viewers were turned off by Gregory, but because he was leaning to the right, not the left. In addition to being a warmonger, he’s oblivious to the need to control guns.
“the New York Post, sees the moves through a left-wing-media-bias prism”
Surprised me. The Post does claim to see left-wing bias where sane people don’t, but its own media-bias prism is pretty right-wing, I’d say.
The NYT is leaning so far right, it is upside down, and according to it’s warped path, anything not in agreement with it, is by definition left leaning. It’s like being at the north pol. the only move you can make is “south”. They have not only lost the path, and the direction, the tossed the compass and their map. Now all they can do is make right turns like some crazy drunken salior with his left foot nailed to the deck.
No further reason to watch “Meet the Press” or ever read the New York Post.
His problem was less about right and left and more about getting at the truth. To say he was leaning right is ridiculous… He leaned left… He just didn’t push hard enough like Tim. Get out of talking points and to the truth.
Gregory has a well known neoliberal bias.
worth the click!
That’s just off the top of my head, and doesn’t even include that whole dancing-behind-Karl-Rove thing.
and nypost is like $2.75 in a texas airport, printed ob the cover, imagine!
With the government spying on us, and Congress lying to us, (the only real commitment Congress makes to us = whatever it takes to get re-elected), the job of a good journalist has never been tougher, Tim Russert’s passing was a tragic and extremely untimely loss for our country, and replacing him on MTP was a comparably large -huge- challenge. Whether David Gregory is/was enough to the left, or to the right, is irrelevant. Let’s hope Chuck Todd as host of MTP is able to extract and present the truth. America cannot thrive without it.
“” Let’s hope Chuck Todd as host of MTP is able to extract and present the truth. America cannot thrive without it.””
Wouldn’t that have to start with “he has to understand the truth in the first place, before he can find it? Whether David Gregory leaned left at all, is important as they are trying to say it wasn’t enough, and they have to go even more ‘hard right’. The “hard right” in this country have so lost thier compass and direction, they have lost the road and any idea of where it it is, let alone making any attempt to follow it.
Sorry but I can’t see how this person will ‘find the truth’ when they have no clue where they are, or what the moral compass is showing. At least a blind pig finds the occasional truffle by turning other than in square circles.
Gregory a lefty? That’s a laugh. Gregory was only another ‘right wing tool’. He obviously lacks journalistic integrity. Meet the Press, has morphed into another propaganda mill of the GOP. I’m very much tired of the over used and never factual phrase “biased liberal media”. I’d like to see what progress this country could make if, we really did have a forceful, unbridled collection of dedicated news agencies at the big networks. I’m sure many things would be different.
I think that accusations that a reporter or, by extension his employer, is “left-leaning” or “left-wing” are actually a warning not to stray too far from the “mainstream” media reservation. In other words, in this case, this is an admonition to NBC and David Gregory to continue with these comments and questions, which we have heard from Gregory on Meet the Press.
Wait just a high-tailin minute there Shawn. Did you read the article? None is so blind as he who refers to see. Croley, let’s parse this new use of the word neoliberal, shall we? Neo- new, liberal, for the majority and democratic, small d, rights and for the people and not the political and economic elite. Are you saying we once had a liberal press, then we didn’t and now we do? And I bet, two-to-one, The liberal part was when Randolph Hearst ran the country.
I agree about that off the top of my head thing. Were I able to summon that level of wisdom off the top of my head I’d certainly have a migraine.
I agree about St. Tim. Tragic loss he was to be replaced by one more of Nietzsche’s flies in the market place. Tim’s two beatitudes: he made truth boring and repugnant. And, he dutifully paid his war taxes.
“Croley, let’s parse this new use of the word neoliberal, shall we?”
First of all, I’m not in the military and you are not a superior, so a “Mr.” is recommended.
Second, there’s no great mystery to the term. Neoliberalism is an economic philosophy that advocates for more privatization and less government regulation. It’s a favorite for international plutocrats.
Right wing that’s hilarious. This guy was one of the hard left leaningest liberal mouth pieces on the planet. The reason his ratings were so bad even the libtards could no longer listen to the democrat mouthpiece parroting what the DMC deemed newsworthy. I guess you guys are trying to distance yourself from the next Keith Olbermann. If you really think this liberal hack is a republican go look at his interviews with Ryan or Gingritch or any other republican then watch him set up softballs for Biden and Clinton I don’t know where you got your info from but Ill tell you strait Im a republican- repubicans and I are good freinds and Gregory mame is no republican…