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Todd: State of the Union Was 'Greatest Hits' List of What Obama Hasn't Accomplished

January 12, 2016

NBC reporter Chuck Todd said President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday was a "greatest hits" list of things he didn't accomplish during his administration.

Todd mentioned the partisan nature of Obama's speech that included shots across the bow at Republican presidential candidates like Donald Trump and Chris Christie.

"It still was a laundry list of issues, but it was a greatest hits of things he didn't get done," Todd said. "It was a greatest hits of 'I still want to fight for this and I'm still going to do that,' so that's how he got his laundry list of issues in there."

The only part of this speech Todd found defensive, he said, was the portion on national defense, a political sore spot for Obama. He has received blistering criticism for his handling of the Islamic State terror group in particular.

"It was very aspirational in tone, and I think very much, he was trying to put a period on his legislative legacy, but the foreign policy part was striking," Todd said. "It was a point-by-point rebuttal, basically, of every charge Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Marco Rubio have made at him."

Obama's team touted in the weeks leading up to the speech that it would be a non-traditional State of the Union address, as it was Obama's last in office.