Very Serious Chuck Todd is criticizing Stephen Colbert for mocking the political system again.
"He is making a mockery of the system," Todd said. "...Is it fair to the process? Yes, the process is a mess, but he's doing it in a way that feels like he's trying to influence it with his own agenda and that may be anti-Republican."
So the guy who never talks about policy and only treats politics like a horse-race, while routinely euphemistically discussing it like a sports match-up, is criticizing a satirist for mocking the system.
This is the second time Todd has done this, by the way. Previously, when Colbert testified to Congress in character, Todd did the same snooty song and dance about Colbert.
First of all, Colbert is absolutely mocking the system. That's what he does and it's brilliant. But Todd thinks that's a bad thing. Probably because Colbert is reporting on the flaws in our system in a significantly more profound way -- from the studios of Comedy Central where he only gets 30 minutes of airtime compared with Todd's 24/7 appearances.
Second, Colbert's agenda isn't necessarily anti-Republican as much as it is anti-lies, anti-bullshit and pro-reality. And, as he's said before, reality has a well-known liberal bias. But mainly, Colbert is a satirist taking aim at politics, yes, but more than anything else the type of cable news punditry that Chuck Todd is a part of.