‘Well, history’s written by the winners. So it largely depends on who’s writing the history…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) NBC’s Meet the Press was forced to apologize after deceptively editing a clip of Attorney General Bill Barr to accuse Barr of undermining “the rule of law.”
Chuck Todd, the host of Meet the Press, claimed in a segment on Sunday that Barr prioritized politics over justice and “the rule of law.”
To prove his point, he played a clip from Barr’s recent CBS News interview, in which Barr is asked about the Justice Department’s decision to drop the criminal case against Gen. Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser.
“When history looks back on the decision, how do you think it will be written,” CBS News’s Catherine Herridge asks Barr.
Barr replies: “Well, history’s written by the winners. So it largely depends on who’s writing the history.”
Todd’s clip ends there, and Todd goes on to slam Barr for “admitting that this is a political job” and neglecting his responsibility to the law.
But the entire CBS News interview reveals that just moments later, Barr clarified that he believes the DOJ’s decision not political because it “undid what was an injustice.”
“But I think a fair history would say it was a good decision because it upheld the rule of law, it upheld the standards of the Department of Justice,” he told Herridge.
DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kopec pointed out this deceptive edit and blasted Todd for taking Barr’s remarks out of context.
Very disappointed by the deceptive editing/commentary by @ChuckTodd on @MeetThePress on AG Barr’s CBS interview.
Compare the two transcripts below. Not only did the AG make the case in the VERY answer Chuck says he didn’t, he also did so multiple times throughout the interview. pic.twitter.com/PR1ciceMmE
— KerriKupecDOJ (@KerriKupecDOJ) May 10, 2020
In response, Meet the Press claimed the deceptive edit wasn’t intentional.
You’re correct. Earlier today, we inadvertently and inaccurately cut short a video clip of an interview with AG Barr before offering commentary and analysis. The remaining clip included important remarks from the attorney general that we missed, and we regret the error.
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 10, 2020