One thing reporters need to realize is that they and their profession are going to face criticism from time to time. Because of that, they need to be prepared to defend themselves and/or their industry if necessary depending on the validity of the criticism. They also need to be willing to listen to constructive criticism and able to acknowledge mistakes and assure readers/viewers that they’re going to make a concerted effort to do better going forward.

Unfortunately, as we’ve learned all too often from the mainstream press, few are willing to admit when they’ve gotten a story all wrong, with some even going so far as to declare past issues that have resurfaced as irrelevant to the current state of affairs in politics.

Such is often the case with Chuck Todd, who hosts “Meet the Press” on Sunday but who also hosts a “daily” version of it where we get to see Todd break out his patented pretzel logic to explain why Republicans are allegedly “manufacturing” Democrat scandals and also his occasional panic button pushes when he sees the writing on the wall for his fellow Democrats.

On Thursday, Todd was doing an interview with North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer (R), who was asked by Todd about Donald Trump’s suggestion that Russian president Vladimir Putin bring forth any information he has on President Biden’s son Hunter Biden, who is currently being investigated by the feds for his questionable overseas business dealings.

In Todd’s view, the former president putting the suggestion out there was a more pressing issue than the current president’s total bungling of the Ukraine/Russia crisis. He pressed Cramer on why we should trust anything Putin had to say about Hunter Biden, and called Trump’s actions borderline “unpatriotic.” Cramer proceeded to unload on Todd at that point, noting that for the media it was okay to believe Russia when it came to the Russia collusion hoax but apparently it was no longer okay since the idea was put out there that maybe Putin could potentially have something that could damage a Democratic presidential administration.

A clearly exasperated Todd shot back by proclaiming Cramer’s comments were a “lazy attack” and then later angrily said, “it doesn’t matter about the media” as Cramer told Todd that the bigger issues right now that should concern all Americans are what Joe Biden has said and done with regard to Russia, including his dangerous comments calling for regime change:

CRAMER: Chuck, here’s the reality. If Hunter Biden’s name was Donald Trump Jr. or Eric Trump, you guys would be treating the war in Ukraine like it was a boy scout camp gone bad –

TODD: Don’t what-about, enough of this. That is the – Senator, that is the laziest attack. It is not about the media.

CRAMER It’s also honest. It’s also honest.

TODD: It doesn’t matter about the media. Is it the right thing to do for the former President of the United States to ask an enemy of the free world to do this?

CRAMER: Well, what the former president is doing is nothing compared to what the current president is doing in this circumstance. That’s really the bigger issue. Donald Trump is Donald Trump. He hasn’t changed, he’s not going to change. It’s more interesting to the Washington press corps than it is to the general public. Was it the wisest thing in the world to say? Perhaps not, but he’s Donald Trump and he says these things.

And the reality is that Vladimir Putin is a war crime – war criminal. I wouldn’t trust anything that came out of it. If he had actual evidence that a crime was committed, if any of us had evidence that a crime was committed, we ought to present it, that’s obvious. The problem is, to your point, the source would not be a trustworthy source, obviously. But once again Donald Trump baited you all and you all took the bait. And now we’re having to – you know, now we’re having a discussion about the Bidens.

TODD: Look, I’m not going to debate you about whether Trump gets too much coverage or not enough. But he is the leader of your party, sir. At the end of the day, whether you like it or not, he’s the leader of your party. Are you comfortable with the leader of your party playing footsie with Vladimir Putin?

CRAMER: Well, here’s what I know. Playing footsie with Vladimir Putin, the evidence that has come out of the recent investigation shows that there’s evidence the Democrats fed information into the White House to plant false evidence that he colluded with the President. You’re never interested in those things.

TODD: Okay, again, does that make what Donald Trump did – how does that make what Donald Trump is doing somehow better?

CRAMER: Well, first of all, it doesn’t necessarily make it better, but he’s a former president. We have a current president who has called for regime changes in Russia. That’s dangerous. We have a current president who says that sanctions are never intended or would never deter Vladimir Putin. We’re all going, why did we issue sanctions then?

Watch the contentious exchange below:

On @MeetThePress talking about the media’s obsession with Donald Trump.

If Hunter Biden’s name was Donald Trump Jr. or Eric Trump, the media would be treating the war in Ukraine like was a Boy Scout camp gone bad. Our full exchange ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/lYPiV2d6h4

— Sen. Kevin Cramer (@SenKevinCramer) April 1, 2022

Cramer was absolutely spot-on there and you could tell it by how Todd squirmed and squealed in response to the points Cramer made. Trump is indeed Trump and he’s going to do “Trump things.” He’s also no longer president and it’s up in the air at this point as to whether or not he’ll run again. Regardless of what one thinks of his comments about Putin and Hunter Biden, what is unquestionably a bigger issue right now is how the current Oval Office occupant is mismanaging the crisis, and as it stands now, most Americans feel he’s done a poor job.

Come to think of it, that’s probably exactly why Todd pressed Cramer on what Trump said. What better way to deflect from Sloppy Joe’s handling of the Russia/Ukraine issue and the possibility that “the Big Guy” (Joe Biden) could be implicated depending on what’s found in the Hunter Biden investigation than to yell “bbbbut Trump”? It’s tiresome and predictable, but it’s just about all Joe Biden’s apologists in the press can do at this point.

Related: Chuck Todd Can’t Deal After Bill Barr Points out an Inconvenient Truth About the ‘Woke’ Left