Chuck Todd Complains: Trump Reading Teleprompter, Not Owning It; Should've Let Trump Ad Lib

NBC's Chuck Todd criticized President Trump's State of the Union address, saying it didn't "sound like him." Todd said Trump gave a "teleprompter" speech and would have been "better off" ad-libbing because it would have been "authentic." This caused the MSNBC panel to break out laughing. "You guys are laughing, I'm being semi-serious here. Not semi," he said to the panel. "I'm just saying the Donald Trump we know as a country, that we interact with every day, with his Twitter feed, with the asides and all of this, the guy that likes to give us all nicknames, that isn't who you saw, right? And you don't see this Trump very often so I don't know if it can sell anything. That's my point here. So I don't know how much ability this version of President Trump does to persuade anybody because you don't see it very often," Todd said of Trump's serious tone. <blockquote>CHUCK TODD: So it wasn't the speech that they sold it to be. And honestly, I just don't -- you know, I go through these things, especially these teleprompter speeches he gives. It's not him. So it is hard to judge these speeches because we know it's not him. It's him reading off a teleprompter. There are some things he says that sound like him totally, you know. He'll throw in a beautiful and an extra totally. But you can tell he is reading it. He doesn't own it. They're better off -- I think they would be better off letting him ad lib because it would be authentic. There is a mission authenticity here. [ laughter ] You guys are laughing, I'm being semi-serious here. Not semi... I take your point. I'm just saying the Donald Trump we know as a country, that we interact with every day, with his Twitter feed, with the asides and all of this, the guy that likes to give us all nicknames, that isn't who you saw, right? And you don't see this Trump very often so I don't know if it can sell anything. That's my point here. So I don't know how much ability this version of President Trump does to persuade anybody because you don't see it very often.</blockquote>