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 [1]]

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 [2] Robertson's father and fellow Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson after he expressed his religious opposition to homosexuality.