“Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd blasted US President Donald Trump on Friday for his claim that “treason” was committed by those who gave the go-ahead that the surveillance of his 2016 campaign, saying the president “doesn’t even know the definition of treason.”
“The president just throws out the words ‘treason’ and ‘coup’ all the time. And we all have become numb to it. I feel like that’s problematic, you know? That we’ve become this numb. I know it is,”
Todd told a panel. “It seems like we’ve all thrown up our hands. ‘Well, that’s just how he speaks.’ He doesn’t even know the definition of treason.”
Charlie Savage, New York Times correspondent agreed, but cited that there were “plenty of people” on the left who accused Donald Trump of treason during the Russia investigation.
Todd wasn’t the only one who questioned the president’s definition of “treason.”
“With all due respect to the president, he uses this word all the time, and I hope somebody explains to him what it is,” NBC News justice correspondent Pete Williams said on MSNBC before explaining the constitutional definition of treason.
“It doesn’t apply to political disputes or even somebody trying to undercut a presidential campaign, if indeed that’s what really happened.”