Todd fails to “call out” Kyl's criticism that distorted Obama's comments

Written by Tom Allison

Published

NBC's Chuck Todd uncritically aired Sen. Jon Kyl's (R-AZ) distortion of President Obama's September 9 address to Congress, in which Kyl falsely suggested that Obama had said, “If you disagree with us, we're going to call you out.” But Obama did not promise to “call out” those who disagree with him; he said: “If you misrepresent what's in the [health care reform] plan, we will call you out [emphasis added].”

Todd lets Kyl claim Obama threatened to “call out” opponents of health care reform

From the September 10 edition of NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams:

TODD: And yet outside of Maine Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, the White House can't name another congressional Republican the president has spoken with recently. And most Republicans today didn't view the president's words last night as any indication he wanted to work with them.

KYL [video clip]: This isn't the way that you get people to cooperate with you. You don't say that, “If you disagree with us, we're going to call you out.”

TODD: And then, Brian, there's the issue of money.

Obama did not promise to “call out” those who “disagree with us,” only those who “misrepresent” plan

Obama: “If you misrepresent what's in the plan, we will call you out.” During his September 9 address before a joint session of Congress, Obama stated, “I won't stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what's in this plan, we will call you out. And I will not -- I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now.” [9/9/09]