Chuck Todd, chief political analyst for NBC News, paid the College of Media a visit on Tuesday to discuss the issues and potential modern politics has for the future of journalism in a Q&A organized by the Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media.
Todd said that although President-elect Donald Trump winning the election is troubling, the Democratic Party had clear shortcomings that cost them the election, such as pigeonholing voters and the weaknesses that come with the two-party system.
“(The two parties have) made it impossible for a third or fourth party to really get traction unless it’s over personality, and that’s never going to change as long as the two parties can control ballot access,” Todd said. “And in that case, the duopoly does. If any of you are in business classes, I think the two parties are the very definition of a duopoly.”
To bridge this sharp divide, Todd said Trump could support policies such as trade proposals and public services to benefit everyday Americans. This includes Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
“I think one of the things that really hurt Biden and Harris in this whole thing was when the check stopped,” Todd said. “I think those COVID checks mattered a lot to people … so I think a lot of people missed that cushion.”
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According to Todd, while college-educated voters favor the Democratic Party, Trump was able to appeal to Americans without a college education and spearhead himself as a voice for the working class.
“If we divide (based) on education, the party of the non-college-educated voter is going to be the majority party,” Todd said.
Tax cuts will be a priority for Trump, as it typically is for the Republican Party. Because of this, Todd said Trump will try to pack as many things as possible into a bill once he is in office, essentially how President Joe Biden did with Build Back Better.
Todd criticized Biden for choosing to run for president and putting his political career over his family. By pardoning his son and referring to the conviction as politically motivated, Biden’s decision has been seen as breaking his promise to restore trust in state institutions.
The pardon has raised concerns about fueling Republican attacks on the Department of Justice. Todd showed unease, as the move would decrease bipartisan trust in the nation’s judicial system.
“The leading Democrat in America says our law enforcement is politically infused with politics and that prosecutions are politically motivated,” Todd said. “The leading republic in this country has said prosecutions in the justice system are politically motivated. What’s the American people hearing? That prosecutions in the Justice Department are politically motivated.”
Todd empathized with Biden’s family situation and the pardon itself. Just weeks after being elected senator of Delaware in 1972, Biden suffered the loss of his first wife and infant daughter after a fatal car crash. In 2015, Beau Biden passed away after a fight with brain cancer.
“I’m sorry (Joe Biden) was in that position,” Todd said. “It’s a tough position. I think many of us probably would have made the same decision. It’s just going to be easier for me to live with my family for the rest of my life. Screw my legacy, you know, because I’ve never lost a child, and I hope I never have to deal with what Joe Biden has.”
Still, Todd maintains this will have ripple effects on the trust Americans hold in their government.
“The Democrats are the ones who asked to be held to a higher standard,” Todd said. “These are actions that Joe Biden took that put us, put his party in this position, put the country in this position and helped bring Donald Trump back.”
In addition, Todd reflects on the media landscape that has produced the current political landscape.
“Alternative facts” — falsehoods adopted as truth — have driven how information is consumed today. This term was coined by Kellyanne Conway in a broadcast conversation with Todd about the disputed size of the crowd at Trump’s inauguration and was widely mocked.
Yet, alternative facts are nothing to laugh about now. As America has become more polarized than ever, the growing mistrust in mainstream legacy media companies, such as CNN and ABC due to their pro-Democrat leanings, have pushed more Americans to accept alternative facts.
Todd said there were widespread calls to deplatform anyone in mainstream media who was involved in the attempted coup on Jan. 6.
“Well, what did that accomplish?” Todd said. “It got Donald Trump to build his own information ecosystem.”
The media landscape has always been evolving with technological changes, Todd said. Because of the need for the truth and news, Todd concluded on an encouraging note for prospective journalism students.
“There’s a desperate need for knowledge on that front,” Todd said. “Don’t let the negative headlines about legacy media shrinking discourage you from journalism. I don’t think my path will exist in five years, but that should be encouraging, not discouraging … My path didn’t exist 10 years before. You’re blazing a new trail, and that’s perfectly okay.”
