Savannah Guthrie's Husband Michael Feldman is a Former Democratic Political Aide
Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie's husband Michael Feldman is a former Democratic political aide.
Guthrie is set to moderate President Donald Trump's town hall event on NBC News Thursday night. She is expected to lead a discussion between Trump and some Florida voters for the one-hour event.
The television anchor was born in Australia and has been working for NBC News for 13 years, since 2007, in a variety of roles. The former attorney initially joined the network as a legal analyst and correspondent for court proceedings. Guthrie landed a White house correspondent role with NBC after she traveled with Sarah Palin's team while covering the 2008 presidential election.
Feldman is also no stranger to politics. Guthrie's husband—born October 14, 1968—is a former Democratic political adviser who served as former Vice President Al Gore's traveling chief of staff during the 2000 presidential election cycle. Feldman launched his political career as a floor assistant in the U.S. Senate cloakroom, according to the White House.
In 2001, Feldman became a founding partner of The Glover Park Group, a communications and consulting firm. He reportedly formed the group with two Gore campaign aides, Carter Eskew and Chip Smith, as well as former White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart.
According to The Hollywood Review, The Glover Park Group provides "studios and filmmakers marketing advice for topical and controversial movies and TV shows."
Guthrie and Feldman married in 2014 and have two children together.
After her role as NBC's White House correspondent, Guthrie co-hosted MSNBC's The Daily Rundown, a news talk show that focuses on politics. In 2011, she left the show with Chuck Todd and became a co-host on Today.
Guthrie has faced intense criticism for taking on Thursday's upcoming town hall. Trump and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden were scheduled to attend their second presidential debate tonight but the president dropped out after organizers shifted the in-person event to a virtual format.
Biden opted to hold a town hall with ABC News in Philadelphia instead. Trump's NBC town hall will run at the same time as the vice president's event.
Americans on social media have condemned NBC News for allowing Trump the opportunity to put on an event at the same time as Biden. Some users on Twitter called for a boycott of the network.
Hours before the event, Trump publicly criticized NBC News. Speaking at a North Carolina rally, the president called the network "the worst" and referred to the event tonight as a "free hour of television."
"So, I'm being set up tonight," Trump said. "I'm doing this town hall with Concast, con, con. It's a con job. C-O-N, not C-O-M. Concast! It's NBC, the worst!"
"They asked me if I do it, I figured, 'What the hell? We get a free hour on television,'" he added. "And we got Savannah Guthrie. She's always lovely, isn't she?"
Newsweek reached out to NBC News for comment.
