Call it Chuck Todd's Profile In Pusillanimity . . .
Given a chance to express his personal opinion of White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, Todd--NBC's chief WH correspondent--mumbled, stuttered, stumbled and ultimately punted, saying it was "an awkward thing."
Chuck's duck-and-cover came during a Morning Joe segment today devoted to analyzing Gibbs in light of a GQ article about him by Robert Draper, who appeared on the show. After Draper, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough gave their brief takes on Gibbs, Scarborough offered the floor to Todd . . . who proceeded to give his best deer-in-the-headlights impersonation. View video here.
Check out the timorous Todd.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: In the past, press secretaries have at least tried to have a good relationship, good working relationship, with the press, to play honest broker. This is a guy who is extremely close to the president, closer to the president than most press secretaries, and sometimes gets a little petulant . . . Chuck?
CHUCK TODD: No, I, I, uh, I, I think this is an awkward --
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: You should have seen Chuck's face when you went to Chuck!
TODD: I'll be honest. I think this is an awkward thing for both of us [referring to fellow NBC WH correspondent Savannah Guthrie] to talk about. We interact with this guy every day.
