Keith Olbermann Slams Page Six, Denies Interest In "Meet The Press" Job, Admits He's Not Qualified

Keith Olbermann preempted Page Six's attack on Thursday's "Countdown" by previewing the gossip column's report, which ran Friday morning, that both he and Chris Matthews were jockeying for the "Meet the Press" moderator's chair (the report alleges that Olbermann has threatened to quit if he doesn't get the job and that Matthews was overheard, at Russert's memorial service, plotting his pitch to NBC executives).

Olbermann smacked down the Post report, explaining that Matthews was talking to "a Pennsylvania acquaintance" about a speech he was to give in Gettysburg, that Matthews does not want to be on any list of possible Russert successors, and that Olbermann "[doesn't] even consider [himself] qualified" for the position.

Watch (full comments below):

Keith Olbermann's full response to the Page Six item:

As we mourned Tim Russert yesterday in Washington, a Pennsylvania acquaintance of Chris' came up to him and said, 'You should be on the list to succeed him.' Chris said he didn't want to be on any such list. He changed the topic immediately. He asked this Pennsylvania man, who is not his agent — no agent would be crass enough to bring up such a topic now or there — for advice on a speech Chris is to give at Gettysburg, PA next week. What he should say. How he should approach it. The speech.

As for myself, not only have I never threatened to quit if I don't get Tim Russert's job. Not only have I not vied for it. Not only has the subject not even come up between me and anybody who will be involved in this sad task. Not only did the Post make this up. Not only is the very subject of Tim Russert's job not appropriate now, as anyone with a shadow of a heart would understand, but I don't even consider myself qualified for it.

Comments

[mc2714]

There is a big, big difference between Kieth and all the hacks over at Faux. Olbermann doesnt pretend for one second to be a journalist- he is a commentator, and makes no bones about it. There is no laughable 'Fair and Balanced' label on his show.

Yeah, the guy has an ego as big as all outdoors. Yeah, he makes himself the center of the story too ofen (his 'battles' with OReilly make for good comedy, but Keith inflated sense of self-worth does shine through). But his commentary is insightful, intelligent, TRUTHFUL, and, yes, deeply biased. If Faux could make that same claim, I'd have no issue. But they are instead shallow, simplistic and dissembling. But they are biased...

That said, when Olbermann does put on the journalist hat-- for MSNBC's election coverage, for example, I find him an astute and reasonable analyst. Good, not great. Better than CNN, not as good as Brokaw.

[GayIthacan]

No, Keith!! We need you RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE - where you are most effective!!!!!

Let Bill Moyers or some other academnician handle MTP!!!!

You keep doing what you are best at - commentary and whistleblowing!

We adore you, big guy!!

[americanalien]

I adore Keith too, he is my hero.

[THISTLE]

Keith Olbermann is a joke, he is a pompous gasbag on his knees to St. Obama.
The family of the late Edward R. Murrow should sue him for using Murrow's sign-off.
And those creepy voices he uses, yesterday pretending to me - Rupert Murdoch.
Can you imagine what Murrrow would say about those creepy voices and - "Puppet Theatre."
This creepy guy is pathetic..­.

[SuiginTou7]

Hey Billo, Keith's in the building. You might want to sneak out before he finds you/

[CallMeDeaconBlues]

Besides that, did you believe him? I didn't. A guy with an ego bigger than he is, Oh Pahleeze.

[thundermummy]

Meh.

[Spesabsquemetu]

Sounds like someone is in a dither over being one of the most repeated worst persons in the world!

[Jimbozi]

Imagine what Murrow would think of Faux News.....

[dzymzlzy]

I love Olbermann but I would not want him to leave Countdown to do Meet the Press. I like to hear Olbermann's opinions too much and Meet the Press is not the format for that.

[nonofyabusiness]

I read he already has a weekend show in the works prior to Russert's unfortunate passing(plus he's doing NFL work on NBC during the season) and of Course Countdown is going nowhere...­.Except UP!!!

[SaraPulis]

Though I am excited about the prospect of getting more Keith on my TV, all that work can't be good for his health...

[JohnShank]

I live in New York and read the New York Post on the way to work and the Daily News on the way home. It is VERY true that the New York Post is a knee-jerk, uber-conservative, Neocon loving paper. Page Six is a joke! 99% +1 of what they print is wrong, false or just a plain lie!!! The guy who is the head of page six is a drunk and the rest are just dirtbags.

I may not agree with Olbermann on much anymore, but I agree completely with his assessment of Page Six!!

[americanalien]

The New York Post is crap. The Daily News is the only local tabloid that I read.

[MariaHopeful]

Keith Olbermann is one of the most brilliant minds on TV. He is more intelligent and "qualified" than almost anyone else I have seen on TV. Olberman is not a good fit for MTP because he has to be free to call a spade a damn spade. He is not a diplomat, he is a truth-teller.

[SaulGood]

i would add bill moyers

[americanalien]

I totally agree.

[ICanHasDemocracy]

The NY Post is not a newspaper, it's a bigger format of The Weekly World News. It is full of horrible puns, bad grammar and shoddy reporting.
it should just be a sports rag.
Favorite terms in the NYP-
"Fiend", "Sicko" "Perv"

and those are just the good reviews of Mayor Bloomberg

[InedaName]

I love Olbermann but he's too tabloid and polarizing a figure for such an Esteemed News Institution as MTP. Russert was well-liked and respected across the board. Matthews is just a loudmouth and a clown. I can't take Williams seriously anymore since he hosted SNL.
I am really hard pressed to think of anyone with the experience, credibility, intellectual honesty, and gravitas necessary to take over the helm except for an old schooler like Brokaw or Moyers. I'd looooove for Phil Donahue to get a shot at it but seeing as he was run out of MSNBC on a rail in the lead up to the war, that probably won't happen.

[RiseHillary]

I wouldn't watch either of those pompous arses on MTP. Phil Donahue has the integrity and experience to take on That task.

[KitChandler]

PHIL DONAHUE, WHAT AN EXCELLENT IDEA!

Can't say enough about how much I have admired this man of integrity over the years.

As far as KO is concerned, I don't know anyone in the media whom I admire more.

Edward R. Morrow and Mary McGrory, oh how we miss you.

[mairs]

Supposedly Olbermann has to spend a certain amount of time every show on the tabloid stuff. I remember reading that he doesn't actually want to.

[proudloudlib]

I do like the idea of gravitas.

[geg6]

Much as I adore Keith, he's right. He's not qualified as his entire career has been built on his ability to state his opinions, even when he was on ESPN. He is not an interviewer and he knows it. And Matthews??­??????????­?? Puhleeze! He never lets anyone get a word in edgewise. Tweety is constitutionally unable to moderate MTP.

I'd love to see Bill Moyers get that job. No one, but no one...incl­uding Russert, who RIP and all that, was never the god of journalism he's been make out to be...is a better interviewer on air right now. No one.

[MissKaren]

I agree about Moyers for MTP but he has found a comfortable niche on PBS and he seems to like it there. He has more freedom at PBS, more time to spend on a subject and can air opinions in his gentle, laid-back but decisive style. He would lose that on MTP.

Olbermann is out of the question for MTP. His proper role is gadfly and gadflies don't belong on MTP.

[darthdarcy]

How about Bill Moyers...?

[bikerdude]

Moyers would be a great choice. I don't think he'd take it though...N­o one else jumps out for me. So many of the talking heads are just so "twenty minutes ago"...I love Rachel Maddow, but I don't think she's ready for that one. For sure, none of the other MSNBC talking heads....T­im came up from basically an unknown and made that show and his image. Perhaps there is someone else out there ready to do the same. Unfourtunately top management today would blow the selection.­..

[tasukibeth1]

That was my thought, too.

[CeciliaBertrand]

Yeah - Brian Williams is such a low float. Moyers has so much more to offer than any of these clowns. I like Keith -- but he is too electric for such a dreary tone on Sunday morning. In the meantime I never liked Russerts work-I don't doubt he was a great human being, but that withstanding, I never felt he was exceptional. Therefore, I did not require nor seek his opinions via the MSNBC crowd; the teary eyed commentators who now will never know what to say again, since he isn't there to coach them. Ho hum.

Of course I grew up listing and watching 'real' journalist honed from World War II and going forward who set the standard--a standard which unfortunately no longer exists. Moyers is good because he has a high moral character so truth means everything to him when he brings a story or the news to the public. He feels responsible. That is why so many of us trust him.

Nowadays I thank the Internet for the Bloggers. I can find the truth much easier. Cancelling TV news front(s) is just not difficult.

[miloseven]

On Sunday morning, I need a calming influence. Somebody like Charlie Rose.

[jrdenn]

Keith is not qualified nor is he impartial enough. Serious, if KO did MTP he would just bring on Feinman and Alter to ask them retorical questions.

Keith: Describe Bill Clinton in one word, womanizer or alcoholic?

Random guest: Well sir, both choices are not very polite, can I have another choice?

Jonathan Alter: Hi Keith! I'll answer, it's womanizer Keith, womanizer.


All KO needs is a few bobble head dolls to run a hour show.

[Quotidien]

I think NBC should take a team approach to replacing Russert. There is a great deal of talent on their political staff. They would do well with ratings if they featured a different personality each week from their pool of pundits: Andrea Mitchell, Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, Lester Holt, Keith Olberman, Chris Matthews, Harold Ford, David Gregory.

Chuck Todd doesn't seem like an interviewer to me and PLEASE don't put Pat Buchanan or Joe Scarborough in that chair!

Mika Brzezinski is an excellent journalist, and a joy to look at, but I might spend the whole show staring at her. LOL

Of all the names I mentioned, Andrea Mitchell and Lester Holt are the most compelling. They are both very thorough, experienced, tough and classy. Brian Williams is a good choice, but his hands may be full with Nightly News.

[proudloudlib]

I like the idea of rotating hosts for a while, then maybe the cream will come to the top. I think Tim may have been grooming Chuck Todd, and he is REALLY smart, but it's just too soon to think of a permanent replacement.

[frustratedinohio]

I think he's capable, but he has no credibility. He's too biased. That's what his whole show is based on. Whatever his bias happens to be. He's also too dramatic. Plus there's no gray area. He either loves you or hates you. I guess that's the format of the show and it's great entertainment, if you happen to agree with him. When it was Bush he was dissecting, it was great fun and if he alienated anyone, who cared. He didn't hurt any dems that's for sure. But once he fell deeply in love with Obama and began his crusade against Hillary, he hurt half the dems. I wonder about his future.

[lennix]

yellow journalism is alive and well in america and the people and our leaders are letting it happen

[GeorgeKaplan]

KO is a rock thrower not the type you would want on MTP. I t would ruin one the few sane talk shows on politics.

"Olbermann "[doesn't] even consider [himself] qualified" for the position."