Chucked Aside? Todd out as 'Meet the Press' Host

Rumors have abounded for years that “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd would get the axe, and on Sunday he announced he would be departing the show after almost a decade to focus on family and long-term projects. He made it official in an on-air farewell statement:

Today we close our show with an announcement from @chucktodd:

"While today is not my final show, this will be my final summer here at Meet the Press. … I am really proud of what this team and I have built over the last decade." pic.twitter.com/sgeUcNR3C5

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) June 4, 2023

In his lengthy three-and-a-half-minute goodbye, he said he thought it would be better to get out early than wear out his welcome:

Welcome back. I have a personal announcement. While today is not my final show, this is going to be my final summer here at Meet the Press. It’s been an amazing nearly decade-long run. I’m pretty — really proud of what this team and I have built over the last decade and frankly the last 15-plus years that I’ve been here at NBC, which also includes my time as political director. I’ve loved so much of this job, helping to explain America to Washington and explain Washington to America…

I’d rather leave a little bit too soon than stay a tad bit too long. I’ve had two amazing professional chapters, and I already have plans for my next chapter, including some projects right here at NBC News that I’ve been very focused on…

He looked pained as he delivered his monologue, suggesting that the decision may not have been voluntary. However, Todd always looks slightly aggrieved, so who knows? He will be replaced by 46-year-old NBC host Kristen Welker.

“Meet the Press” has suffered from low ratings and constant criticism as the network has been unable to find a host with the gravitas and respect of its onetime leader, the late Tim Russert. Todd is beloved by neither the left nor the right—he’s not radical enough for today’s Democrats but he regularly manages to annoy Republicans with his progressive takes.

(Read: NBC’s Chuck Todd Laughably Insists More Illegal Aliens Will Solve Inflation)

There’s even a popular Twitter hashtag, #FireChuckTodd. Here’s the kind of stuff that goes on there:

The question definitely got answered. It was a resounding “Fire Chuck Todd, preferably into the Sun.” He’s getting shuffled elsewhere in NBC and not getting shitcanned, but a win is a win pic.twitter.com/KfuSe0UaHJ

— Adam, Hershey supporter (@salsa_wits) June 4, 2023

Todd, to his credit, seemingly takes all the criticism in stride:

If you do this job seeking popularity, you are doing this job incorrectly. I take the attacks from partisans as compliments, and I take the compliments from partisans with a grain of salt. The goal of this and every Meet the Press episode is to do all of the following in one informative hour: make you mad, make you think, shake your head in disapproval and nod your head in approval. If you do all of that in one hour of this show, we’ve done our jobs. So, again, this isn’t goodbye.

Todd isn’t the first host to fail to fill the void left by Russert, who sadly passed at age 58 from a heart attack after 17 years as the face of the show. Todd’s predecessor David Gregory’s tenure ended badly after a six-year run:

“It was handled in a way that was unnecessary. NBC made a business decision which you can agree with or disagree with. It just didn’t need to be handled that way, and the process of it was difficult,” Gregory told “CBS This Morning” Wednesday [September 9, 2015], in his first television interview since leaving NBC.

It looks like the #FireChuckTodd folks will need to find another hobby, because Chuck will end his reign in September.

Watch: Chuck Todd Gets the Reality Check He Deserves After Asking How Fox News ‘Regains Some Trust’

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