NBC: GOP Inviting 'Duck Dynasty' Star to SOTU Not 'Dignified'; 'Trying to Make A Partisan Political Point'
During NBC's live State of the Union coverage Tuesday night, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd sneered at Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson being a Republican guest at the event: "...after
the shooting with Gabby Giffords and for a couple of State of the
Unions in a row....There was more of a dignified feeling about the
guests that you would invite. Boy, you can tell things are a lot
different now, when you're inviting Duck Dynasty stars. Everybody's
trying to make a partisan political point." [Listen to the audio]
Todd concluded: "You get the feeling that whatever Kumbaya that there
had been, at least in the last couple of years, that's – that's gone
with this State of the Union."
During
the 2013 State of the Union, Todd never voiced any concern over
President Obama using Gabby Giffords herself to make a "partisan
political point" about pushing gun restrictions.
Minutes before Todd's rant, Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell
had noted Robertson's attendance: "One of the reality TV stars of Duck Dynasty,
Willie Robertson, is here with his star-spangled bandanna. And there
has been a parade of members, Republican members of the House, who've
come from the floor up to the second level to shake hands with him."
The networks thoroughly denounced Robertson's father and fellow Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson after he expressed his religious opposition to homosexuality.
— Kyle Drennen is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.
