David Gregory | |
|---|---|
 Gregory at his home in Washington, DC | |
| Born | David Michael Gregory (1970-08-24)August 24, 1970 (age 55) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | American University (BA) |
| Occupation | Television host |
| Notable credit(s) | Meet the Press (2008–2014) NBC News Chief White House Correspondent (2001–2008) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Carolyn Fitzpatrick Gregory Don Gregory |
David Michael Gregory[1] (born August 24, 1970) is an American television personality and the former host ofNBC News'Sunday morning talk showMeet the Press.[2] Gregory has served as aCNN political analyst since 2016.
Gregory was born inTarzana, Los Angeles,California, and raised inEncino andVan Nuys,[3] the son of Carolyn (née Fitzpatrick), an account manager, andDon Gregory (originally Don Ginsburg), a film and theatrical producer.[1][4] His father wasJewish and his mother wasIrishCatholic.[3]
Gregory was educated atBirmingham High School, a co-educational public high school in theLake Balboa district ofLos Angeles, followed byAmerican University inWashington, D.C., from which he graduated in 1992. While there, he worked for the campus television station,ATV - American University Television, and received a degree ininternational studies from theSchool of International Service. He was also a member of theAlpha Sigma Phi fraternity. Gregory was named the School of International Service's alumnus of the year in 2005 and sits on the Dean's Advisory Council.[5][6]
Gregory began his career at the age of 18 as a summer reporter forKGUN-TV inTucson, Arizona. Gregory also worked for NBC'sSacramento, California, affiliateKCRA-TV.[7][8]
Gregory was assigned by NBC to the press corps coveringGeorge W. Bush when heran for president in 2000. During the campaign, Bush threw a party for Gregory's 30th birthday, complete with cake, on the campaign plane.[9] Bush nicknamed Gregory "Stretch" because of his height (6'5"),[10] and also "Dancing Man," for Gregory's occasional propensity to display his dance moves.[11]
After the election, Gregory became a White House correspondent for NBC. The conservativeMedia Research Center named him 'Best White House Correspondent' for his coverage of Bush's first 100 days.[12] Gregory held this position until taking theMeet the Press job in December 2008.
Michael Chertoff, a Bush appointee, attended ababy shower for Gregory's children.[13]
He also participated withKarl Rove, Bush's chief advisor, in a dancing skit for theRadio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner inWashington, D.C.[14]
Gregory had been the substitute co-anchor atWeekend Today forLester Holt from 2003 to 2014. He filled in forMatt Lauer onToday from 2005 to 2014. Gregory had anchoredNews Chat,Crosstalk NBC andNewsfront on MSNBC from 1998 to 2000.
Gregory also filled in on NBC NewsWeekend Nightly News andNBC Nightly News from 2005 to 2014.
Gregory also filled theImus in the Morning time slot onMSNBC after theDon Imus controversy involving theRutgers University basketball team whileMSNBC searched for a permanent host. He served as a guest host in the morning time slot forMSNBC (while also beingsimulcast onWFAN) for one week in May. The morning radio program was known asGregory Live.
From March 17, 2008, through December 5, 2008, Gregory hosted a show on MSNBC weekday evenings, which replacedTucker Carlson'sTucker.[15] The show was calledRace for the White House until the conclusion of the2008 U.S. presidential election. From November 5, 2008, forward the show became known as1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.[16] Gregory was replaced byDavid Shuster, who was named as the new host for1600 Pennsylvania Avenue starting with the December 15, 2008 show.
Due to internal fighting among the staff at MSNBC, Gregory was appointed as anchor on MSNBC during the presidential debates and the 2008 election.[17][18][19][20] On November 4–5, he teamed withRachel Maddow,Eugene Robinson,Chris Matthews andKeith Olbermann as commentators on thepresidential election.
Gregory became the moderator ofMeet the Press, beginning with the December 14, 2008, episode when he was introduced by interim moderatorTom Brokaw.[2] The ratings fell, and he was replaced in 2014.[21]
During Gregory's tenure atMeet the Press, the show's ratings fell to their lowest in 21 years and it regularly placed third among Sunday morning news shows.[22]The Washington Post reported that NBC hired a "psychological consultant" to assess Mr. Gregory.[23] NBC did not deny this, saying it had hired a "brand consultant" to evaluate how Gregory connected with the audience.[24] On August 14, 2014, NBC announced Gregory would leave the parent network, with his hosting duties assumed byChuck Todd.[24] On August 17, 2014,Andrea Mitchell hostedMeet the Press, and paid brief tribute to Gregory's career at NBC, saying, "In 20 years with NBC News, David has done it all.... Through all the years, David has been true to the traditions of this program and NBC News."[25]
Gregory was hired by CNN as a political commentator for the 2016 U.S. presidential election season.[26]
Gregory's interaction with Bush'spress secretaries was contentious at times, garnering media attention in several instances. Numerous commentators have used these incidents to characterize Gregory's reportage as proof of the news media'sleft-wingbias.[13][27] Gregory has toldHoward Kurtz that "it's easy to divert attention against a familiar whipping boy" and that "I provide fodder for critics who say, 'Aha, they're out of control.'"[13]
On January 23, 2009,The Daily Beast columnistAna Marie Cox stated thatBarack Obama still has not discovered "this administration's David Gregory." She used Gregory as ametaphor for a White House foil, and she described this as a figure that could be interpreted as either "tough, news-oriented, and no-nonsense or showy, superficial, and self-indulgent."[28]
On the December 23, 2012 broadcast ofMeet the Press withNational Rifle Association of America (NRA) chief executiveWayne LaPierre, Gregory displayed what he identified as "a magazine for ammunition that carries 30 bullets."[29][30]NBC had requested permission from theMetropolitan Police Department (MPD) to include a high-capacity magazine in the segment and were denied.[31] Gregory displayed the magazine on the show, with media reports noting D.C. Code 7-2506.01(b) prohibits the possession of magazines with a capacity in excess of "10 rounds of ammunition."[32][33][34]
On December 26, 2012, MPD spokesmen confirmed the launch of an inquiry.[35] When asked byCNN on December 27, 2012, if he thought Gregory should be prosecuted, NRA presidentDavid Keene responded, "No, I don't think so... I really think what David Gregory did while he was inadvertently flouting the law was illustrating in a very graphic way, perhaps not intentionally, but in a graphic way just how silly some of these laws are."[36] Other gun rights advocates argued that not charging Gregory would show D.C. police to be hypocritical in enforcing gun laws.[37]
On January 8, 2013, a spokeswoman for D.C. police chiefCathy L. Lanier said her department had completed its investigation into the matter and referred it to the office of theDistrict's attorney general to determine if Gregory would be prosecuted. D.C. attorney generalIrvin B. Nathan announced three days later that although Gregory had violated the law, no charges would be filed against him or any other NBC employees. Stating, "despite the clarity of the violation of this important law, because under all of the circumstances here a prosecution would not promote public safety in the District of Columbia nor serve the best interests of the people of the District to whom this office owes its trust."[38][39]
On June 23, 2013, David Gregory posed a question to journalistGlenn Greenwald thatThe Washington Post described as a "gotcha inquiry"[40] containing "a veiled accusation of federal criminal wrongdoing, very much in the tradition of 'how long have you been beating your wife'".[41] According to theLos Angeles Times, "Gregory's questiondisguised a loaded assumption"[42] that Greenwaldaided and abettedNSA leakerEdward Snowden before asking: "[W]hy shouldn't you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime?"[43] Greenwald responded vigorously in objection to the question. The accusation itself became a news story.[44][45]The New York Times said, "If you tease apart his inquiry, it suggests there might be something criminal in reporting out important information from a controversial source."[46] The Poynter Institute wrote, "The obvious defense is that he was merely asking a question that evinced a viewpoint advanced byU.S. Rep. Peter King andWashington Post columnist Marc Thiessen—that publishing secrets is law-breaking."[45] Opinion columnistFrank Rich called Gregory's charges "preposterous," questioning Gregory's own journalistic credentials and asking why he didn't also make similar accusations againstWashington Post reporterBarton Gellman, who also published Snowden's leaks.[47]
Since June 2000, Gregory has been married toBeth Wilkinson,[1] aMethodist.[48] Wilkinson is a former federal prosecutor, formerFannie Mae executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, and[1][49] a lawyer representing four ofHillary Clinton's closest aides in the FBI's investigation of Clinton'semail scandal.[50][51] They met while Gregory was covering theOklahoma City bombing as a reporter and Wilkinson was serving as prosecutor on the case.[13] They have three children.
Gregory wroteHow's Your Faith?, a book about his spiritual journey with Judaism, being born to interfaith parents and his marriage to a Christian.[48] It was released in September 2015.
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| Preceded by | Meet the Press Moderator December 14, 2008 – August 10, 2014 | Succeeded by |
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