David Gregory Fawns Over Obama's 'Lincoln Moment'

NBC’s David Gregory hosted the President on Sunday’s Meet the Press–and compared to his last notable interview, when he verbally attacked NRA President Wayne LaPierre at every turn, Gregory was virtually asleep this weekend. 

Unfortunately, Gregory’s mostly timid questions and Obama’s rambling answers gave us nothing new.

The only real pointed question that Gregory asked Obama was over Susan Rice. But even there he asked the question in the meekest manner possible.

Gregory asked: “Do you feel like you let your friend Susan Rice hang out there to dry a little bit?”

The equivocation of “a little bit” was far more consideration than the badgering Gregory offered LaPierre.

But all of Obama’s answers were mere talking points. Take his line about what he thinks Republicans priority is.

“They say that their biggest priority is making sure that we deal with the deficit in a serious way but the way they’re behaving is that their only priority is making sure that tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are protected. That seems to be their only, overriding, unifying theme.”

This is simply a talking point lie. Tax breaks for the rich are not the Republicans’ “only, overriding, unifying theme.” Not one Republican anywhere has said that his goal is to “protect” tax cuts for the wealthy. Not one. The single unifying theme has been spending cuts as well as tax cuts for everyone. But the President does not want to discuss spending cuts at all.

And of course the most idiotic line of the interview was when Gregory gushingly bestowed the mantle of Abraham Lincoln on Obama saying that this budget fight is Obama’s “Lincoln moment.”

Seriously? We are going to compare a president that ended slavery, fought a civil war and was assassinated right on the verge of his greatest victory to a guy that just wants to soak “the rich” with confiscatory taxes?

At least the President demurred from Gregory’s fawning.