Savannah Guthrie Called Controversial Trump Town Hall 1 of the ‘Most High-Pressure Situations You Can Find Yourself In’
As a journalist, Savannah Guthrie holds facts and accuracy above everything else, even when it comes to political figures and celebrities.
Guthrie has been a co-host of NBC’s Today show since 2012. She joined NBC News as a chief legal correspondent in 2007 and later became a White House correspondent for the network. With nearly three decades of experience, a BA in journalism from the University of Arizona, and a Georgetown Law degree under her belt, Guthrie knows her stuff quite well.
What’s Savannah Guthrie’s political leaning?
Savannah Guthrie hasn’t disclosed whether she leans more Republican or Democrat. She upholds journalistic ethics and unbiasedness regardless of whom she interviews.
She has interviewed the last three Presidents of the United States during their respective presidential terms and has moderated several debates for presidential nominees.
She interviewed Donald Trump before he was president in 2011 about the Obama “birther” controversy. Years later, in 2016, she moderated Donald Trump’s town hall with former co-host Matt Lauer, and once again in 2020, after the current president refused a debate with the then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden. During the town hall, Gunthrie asked questions about conspiracy theories about his then-opponent and QAnon. The interview earned an Emmy for Outstanding Live Interview.
“I approach it the same no matter what, and I think preparation is the key,” she told AZ Central about the town hall. “Interviewing any president is difficult. It’s one of the most high-pressure situations you can find yourself in. And, every president, every political figure, they’re all different. And they all present a different set of challenges. So I think it’s just one of those occasions where you always have to study really hard and, no matter who it is, you have to be just ready for the unpredictable.”
“Obviously, we live in a culture of misinformation,” she added. “And I am a firm believer in all of the tried-and-true ideals of journalism — fairness, accuracy, precision. We all need to stick to those things. And the media is bigger now. It covers a wide terrain. It covers opinion, it covers news, quasi-entertainment. But I think for journalism, I always say go back to the basics, go to the fundamentals. And that’s kind of that’s the north star for me. That’s what I try to do. I think that’s what we’re called to do. And I think it’s more important than ever, actually.”
In 2024, the Today show host told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show that when the network hired Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a political contributor, it was “an unpleasant few days” due to the widespread criticism.
She said, “I think the instinct to try to have a diversity of opinion and a diversity of perspectives and voices as we cover an election is the right instinct,” Guthrie reflected. “And it’s complex, and it’s made more complex by the politics that we have right now.”
“We need to include an array of voices,” Guthrie said. “But there’s a line. The line is truth, the line is fact, and you have to be someone upholding our democracy, and that’s to me where the line is.”
For NBC News, the host also did boots on the ground coverage for both the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention in 2024.
Savannah Guthrie is also married to Democratic political advisor Michael Feldman, who served as Vice President Al Gore’s deputy director of legislative affairs from 1993 to 1997, and senior adviser and traveling chief of staff for the former VP. Though her husband’s political affiliations are well known, it’s not indicative of Savannah Guthrie’s own political beliefs.
