When Chuck Todd used to be the political director and host of Meet the Press for NBC News and MSNBC, his love of sports would often creep in. Now that he had his own podcast, he could talk about it more freely. So when he had Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports Radio on Monday’s show, Todd seemed a little surprised when his guest expressed strong skepticism and mistrust of “the media.” Leading Todd to eventually admit that he can tell what the narrative of a story would be by the byline.
For what it’s worth, Todd went almost 30 minutes (29:45) before saying something negative about President Trump. Todd blamed Trump for why he no longer got any joy out of politics:
I missed the joy of it…I still enjoy it. Unfortunately now, I mean, you know, the way Trump practices it, it has made it less joyful. Right? It has just sucked the joy out of it. Both left and right in different ways.
And, you know, try having a light moment in a political show and it's like, “you're not being serious” or you're, you know. It is a – It has become what used to be really easy to sort of have some levity in a political discussion. It's been really hard in the Trump era. You know, look at political comedians, they have a hard time. And we didn't have any problem with political comedians from 2015, you know, before 2015, and here we are today.
With the conversation centered on how journalists felt about those they covered, Cowherd pointed out that “the media” often had a habit of blowing things out of proportion. “So I do think sometimes if I have a criticism of the media. But it's sometimes a bit neurotic and a bit hyperbolic,” he said. “And I just think it’s part of it that the media often inflames something. I mean, the Sydney Sweeney's done non-story. It really is a non-story and the media fed into it.”
Calling it a “pet peeve of mine,” Todd pressed Cowherd on what he meant by “the media” and questioned what that could be in reference too. “Who's the media? When you say the media, what are you referring to? Like, I think I know, right?” he said.
Todd suggested the liberal outrage at the Sydney Sweeny jeans ad was actually just right-wingers elevating criticism from nobodies; and that it was the right who made it into a big deal:
Like I'm not gonna sit here and say I don’t, but I'd sit there and say, you know, I get this stuff, the media, and I'm like, hey man, Fox is the media, you know, YouTube's the media. There's a lot of – I mean, what, you know, it is, it's harder – You know, it's harder for me to accept the premise of quote unquote – Was Sydney Sweeney a story that mainstream media overreacted and manufactured, or was it a right-wing meme that was trolling left-wingers, who I'd never heard of, who they elevated and turned it into a left right thing. Right? Like, and by the way, it's a little bit of both.
Cowherd eventually lamented to Todd that since COVID, he had been able to consume and trust the media like he used to. “I will be honest, Chuck, COVID to today, I read even The New York Times and The Atlantic, not cynically, but with more suspicion,” he said.
Adding: “I don't trust traditional media, and I always thought I was a kind of left-leaning moderate fiscal moderate conservative. I don't look at the traditional media. That's supposed to be fact-based. I don't look at it quite the same as I used to. I still consume it, but I feel differently when I'm doing it.”
Todd sympathized with where Cowherd was coming from and admitted that when he looks at a story, the individual journalist writing it played a heavy role in framing his perception, and presumably his trust in it.
“I've always been journalist specific, you know, I know how the Times puts their stuff together, and I know certain reporters; how they work and versus others. And so, but I had the luxury of knowing that,” he said. “I was in press scrums with them. I know how they operate and sort of, you know, I would cherry pick.”
He went on to suggest that while there wasn’t a “heavy hand” telling them what and how to write, “you do get groupthink” inside organizations. “Tell me the byline and I'll know the angle to the story,” he quipped.
The transcript is below. Click “expand” to read:
The Chuck ToddCast
August 18, 2025
00:29:45(…)
CHUCK TODD: I missed the joy of it. I used to say that, you know, I used to say I covered, I was the –Hubert Humphrey's memoir was called The Politics of Joy, and I always loved that, which is, you know, hey, look, it's, you know, I enjoy – I still enjoy it. Unfortunately now, I mean, you know, the way Trump practices it, it has made it less joyful. Right? It has just sucked the joy out of it. Both left and right in different ways.
And, you know, try having a light moment in a political show and it's like, “you're not being serious” or you're, you know. It is a – It has become what used to be really easy to sort of have some levity in a political discussion. It's been really hard in the Trump era. You know, look at political comedians, they have a hard time.
COLIN COWHERD: Yeah.
TODD: And we didn't have any problem with political comedians from 2015, you know, before 2015, and here we are today.
(…)
00:31:25
COWHERD: I think society is a little more coarse than it used to be. But I also, I also think, Chuck, this is, there is a distinction. We do forget – You know, I watch a lot of true crime. And you know, we, we forget there was, there are fewer serial killers today than in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. People used to hitchhike.
TODD: Yeah.
COWHERD: Like, there are parts of our society that are much less coarse. I mean, AI is gonna give us medical advances. People will not die in pain as much this point forward for the next – rest of our lives. So I do think sometimes if I have a criticism of the media. But it's sometimes a bit neurotic and a bit hyperbolic, and especially as the media has gotten – you say we're old guys, the media is younger because they're cheaper.
TODD: Yup.
COWHERD: And as it's become more corporatized, you know, you don't want to pay that anchor 6 million, 8 million, you'd rather pay $800,000. So I think my biggest criticism on all of this. What did Obama say about Trump? He's not the cause.
TODD: He’s a symptom.
COWHERD: He's a symptom. And I just think it's part of it that the media often inflames something. I mean, the Sydney Sweeney's done non-story. It really is a non-story and the media fed into it.
TODD: Okay, let me ask you this. It’s a - This is a pet peeve of mine. The phrase “the media.” I get this, “the media.”
COWHERD: Yeah.
TODD: Who's the media? When you say the media, what are you referring to? Like, I think I know, right? Like I'm not gonna sit here and say I don’t, but I'd sit there and say, you know, I get this stuff, the media, and I'm like, hey man, Fox is the media, you know, YouTube's the media. There's a lot of – I mean, what, you know, it is, it's harder – You know, it's harder for me to accept the premise of quote unquote – Was Sydney Sweeney a story that mainstream media overreacted and manufactured, or was it a right-wing meme that was trolling left-wingers, who I'd never heard of, who they elevated and turned it into a left right thing. Right? Like, and by the way, it's a little bit of both.
(…)
00:36:55
COWHERD: I will be honest, Chuck, COVID to today, I read even The New York Times and The Atlantic, not cynically, but with more suspicion.
TODD: Oh yeah.
COWHARD: I don't, I don't – COVID to today, I don't trust traditional media, and I always thought I was a kind of left-leaning moderate fiscal moderate conservative. I don't look at the traditional media. That's supposed to be fact-based. I don't look at it quite the same as I used to. I still consume it, but I feel differently when I'm doing it.
TODD: Yeah, I've always sort of – I've always been journalist specific, you know, I know how the Times puts their stuff together, and I know certain reporters; how they work and versus others. And so, but I had the luxury of knowing that. Right?
COWHERD: Yes.
TODD: Because I was in – I was in press scrums with them. I know how they operate and sort of, you know, I would cherry pick. And you would sit there and I’ve never – I've always said, you know, there isn't really a heavy hand, it really is individual, but you do get groupthink. Right? You do see how the groupthink happens and all of that.
But I've always been – I can – Tell me the byline and I'll know the angle to the story. You know, and I still feel that way, and it's – I've – I read that way a lot. I read The Atlantic that way, I read the Journal that way.
COWHERD: I do too.
TODD: I read National Review that way. I read, you know, I have this sort of very bipartisan diet out of defense. Right? I want to know – I gotta hear what's happening. I gotta feel I do that.
(…)
