WATCH: Chuck Todd Grills NC Gov. Pat McCrory On Anti-LGBT Law

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During an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” moderator Chuck Todd quizzed North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) on the new sweeping anti-LGBT legislation that he signed into law in late March.

Citing backlash from major corporations, Todd asked McCrory if he regreted signing the rushed legislation.

In response, McCrory blamed the city of Charlotte for “government overreach” with its ordinance providing protections from discrimination for LGBT individuals and allowing transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity.

“How did the state of North Carolina, the state government, not overreach in just the same way?” Todd then asked. The NBC host noted that Charlotte discussed the issue at length, whereas the North Carolina legislature called a special session to rush the legislation through in one day.

“You guys debated for, like, ten seconds. I mean, don’t you regret the time of debate?” Todd asked.

McCrory replied by explaining that he’s met North Carolinians who support the new state law. He then argued that the legislature needed to pass the state law before April 1 in order to prevent the Charlotte ordinance from going into effect.

Later in the interview, Todd asked McCrory how refusing to protect gay and transgender people in state law differs from refusing to protect people from racial discrimination.

McCrory said that he’s unaware of any businesses in the state that discriminate against LGBT individuals.

“What we’ve got to do is deal with this extremely new social norm that has come to our nation at a very quick period of time, and have these discussions about the complexity of equality while also balancing the concept of privacy, including even privacy in the most private of areas of our life, which is a restroom, locker room, or shower facility in our high schools,” the governor added.

He also argued that the Human Rights campaign is “more powerful than the NRA.

“They are putting on a lot of pressure, instead of having good dialogue,” McCrory said.

Watch the full interview via NBC News:

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Notable Replies

  1. McCrory is so out of his league…Keep it up Pat…further to the right

  2. Note to TPM headline writers: to grill, the coals must be hot.

  3. Oh, please! The only time Chuck Todd has ever grilled anything is when he was standing in front of his Weber Kettle with a spatula and fork in his hands. There are probably tougher interview standards to join the Girl Scouts.
    If McCrory had been interviewed by Rachel Maddow or Dan Savage or Keith Olbermann, he would have ended up hiding under the desk sucking his thumb.

  4. Perhaps if Mr. Todd was going to “grill” the Governor he might have asked him why he doges every question on this law with a discussion of men going into ladies rooms. The law does much much more than stop transgenders from going into bathrooms of their choice. When will McCrory get grilled on all the other stuff? If you want to me out of a woman’s room why do you need to shit can my right to discrimination grievance at the state level? The law does that. And a lot more.

    It was softball stuff. Todd let him do some clean up.

  5. He also argued that the Human Rights campaign is "more powerful than the NRA.

    Goddamned people banding together to advocate for human rights and equality of treatment. Geez, what would Jesus think?!

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