Chuck Todd: Attorney General Eric Holder 'Wasn't Political At All'
Appearing on MSNBC's NewsNation on Thursday to react to Attorney General Eric Holder announcing his resignation, NBC's Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd had the audacity to proclaim that Holder "wasn't political at all" during his tenure at the Justice Department. [Listen to the audio]
This is the same Eric Holder who declared America to be a "nation of cowards" on race, was held in contempt of Congress for not handing over documents related to the Fast and Furious gun running scandal, and who just in April implied to Al Sharpton's National Action Network that Republican criticism of him and President Obama was racially motivated.
Host Tamron Hall began the segment by describing Holder's time as attorney general being "complicated" "turbulent" and "controversial," but also gushed over him being "defiant" and "unforgettable."
Todd declared:
And he's been an enormous important ally to the President in a way that I think people don't understand. Eric Holder took a lot of the slings and arrows at him from Republicans in Congress that were essentially intended for the President....He probably got more vicious questioning sometimes from committee hearings than we'd seen many attorney generals get...
Hall cheered how Holder "met it head on" and touted his recent trip to Ferguson, Missouri.
It was then that Todd asserted how supposedly "non-political" Holder was:
But what's interesting about him, he's a very non-political person. And I think people used to mistakenly think that this guy was this long-time political operative who happened to be an attorney general. That's not him at all. In fact, that used to get him in some hot water with some of the President's own political aides who sometimes felt that Eric Holder wasn't thinking about the politics of an issue....Those type of issues where he'd get heat inside the White House because they felt he wasn't political enough. And yet, to the outside world, he'd get criticized, say from Republicans on Capitol Hill, because they thought, "Oh, he's being too much – too political." The guy wasn't political at all and in many ways just ended up being the point person to attract a lot of – a lot of attacks.
Here is a full transcript of the September 25 exchange:
11:02 AM ET
TAMRON HALL: Let me bring in NBC political director and moderator of Meet the Press Chuck Todd. He joins us now. Chuck, thank you so much for making time for us. Let's talk about Mr. Holder's tenure before we can talk about who could possibly succeed him here. It's been complicated, it's been turbulent. He's been defiant, and as we like to use the word, controversial. But in the end, he certainly has been an unforgettable attorney general.CHUCK TODD: And he's been an enormous important ally to the President in a way that I think people don't understand. Eric Holder took a lot of the slings and arrows at him from Republicans in Congress that were essentially intended for the President, but for whatever reason they made Holder the point person of the attacks. He probably got more vicious questioning sometimes from committee hearings than we'd seen many attorney generals get in general. But in many ways, he was this – Republicans sort of treated him as their surrogate for the ways they wanted to maybe go after the President, but they felt like they couldn't in public.
So there is an enormous loyalty inside that White House, particularly with this president, to Eric Holder in a way that – no other cabinet member has that kind of loyalty from this president because he knows that Eric Holder has had to take sort of extra heat, for no other reason than he was the person on Capitol Hill that had to take the extra heat that maybe was supposed to be directed at the President, but somehow Eric Holder had to get it. And that is – that's – he's an important cabinet member to the President in a way that's beyond just because he was the attorney general.
HALL: And you speak of the extra heat, but he seemed to be the person willing to take it. There are many times when people fall into the hot pot and they just, we like to say again, take it for the team or they run. In this case he met it head on. From the Supreme Court invalidating key parts of the Voting Rights Act to taking the trip on his own to Ferguson, Missouri. It was said over and over that he made that decision, that the administration did not ask him to go to Ferguson in the middle of the rallies that were taking place there.
TODD: You know, he did a lot of the tough stuff that you would say, "Hey, attorney general's got to do tough stuff, this is not a forgiving job, you gotta do the tough stuff." But what's interesting about him, he's a very non-political person. And I think people used to mistakenly think that this guy was this long-time political operative who happened to be an attorney general. That's not him at all.
In fact, that used to get him in some hot water with some of the President's own political aides who sometimes felt that Eric Holder wasn't thinking about the politics of an issue. Whether it was, for instance early on, he had some well known clashes with the first chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and with David Axelrod, over the issue of detainees, right? And whether do you try them in the justice system, do you try them in military tribunals? Just those type of fights, shutting down Guantanamo. Do you give Miranda rights to these guys?
Those type of issues where he'd get heat inside the White House because they felt he wasn't political enough. And yet, to the outside world, he'd get criticized, say from Republicans on Capitol Hill, because they thought, "Oh, he's being too much – too political." The guy wasn't political at all and in many ways just ended up being the point person to attract a lot of – a lot of attacks.
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— Kyle Drennen is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.
