In a candid moment during the latest episode of the podcast 13th & Park, longtime NBC political analyst Chuck Todd acknowledged what many on the right have argued for years—that the media’s post-Jan. 6 effort to deplatform Donald Trump was a strategic and constitutional misstep.
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“There’s no doubt Trump wants some revenge,” Todd said, referring to President Trump’s well-documented grievances with the media, legal institutions, and other power centers that sought to sideline him. “But let’s not beat around the bush,” he continued. “All these institutions did wanna cancel Trump, did want him inoperable in mainstream public.”
Todd, who recently left NBC News, didn’t shy away from admitting his industry’s role in the coordinated effort to shut Trump out of traditional media after Jan. 6. While he claims not to have gone along with the herd, he openly criticized the groupthink that led to Trump’s removal from major platforms.
“I did not follow the pied piper on this one,” Todd said, referring to the widespread push across media and tech to erase Trump’s voice. “This is a democracy. This is a First Amendment [issue].”
Todd warned that the deplatforming campaign backfired spectacularly, driving Trump and his supporters to create their own thriving parallel media ecosystem. “The decision to deplatform bit mainstream media in the ass,” he said bluntly. “Donald Trump started his own information ecosystem. How do you like them apples now?”
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Todd underscored that the Constitution was explicitly designed to protect minority voices, not just those favored by the majority. “The whole point of the Constitution is to protect minority rights, not majority rights,” he emphasized. “You may not like that speech, but speech is speech.”
I’m so glad he finally figured that out.
Todd also mocked the current hand-wringing in traditional newsrooms over their declining influence. “I sit here, it’s like, traditional media, ‘Oh, what’s happened?’” he said, before answering his own question: “You did try to deplatform him. It was a mistake. Somebody oughta come up and say, ‘This was a mistake.’”
While Todd stopped short of directly apologizing—not that I expected him too—his comments mark a significant departure from the party line that dominated the press after the Capitol riot. Rather than reassessing their own behavior, most media outlets doubled down on censorship and gatekeeping. Now, according to Todd, they’re grappling with the fallout.
You think?
🚨NEW: After leaving NBC News, Chuck Todd laments how media effort to “CANCEL TRUMP” completely backfired🚨
“All these institutions did want to cancel Trump, did want him inoperable in mainstream public.”
“I think the biggest mistake — and I did not follow the pied piper on… pic.twitter.com/wAwhaIe5VA
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) April 19, 2025
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Let’s face it, legacy institutions are hemorrhaging credibility and viewers, Todd’s remarks serve as a rare and telling admission: silencing Trump didn’t diminish his influence—it magnified it. And in trying to cancel him, the mainstream media may have only canceled itself. But I’m no more impressed by this admission than I was when the media finally admitted the Hunter Biden laptop was real. Somehow, these admissions only happen after they would have any real impact.
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