Chuck Todd’s Goatee Lives On

Robert Quigley — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:06:44 +0000

It’s official: Chuck Todd’s goatee will remain intact. Todd had a running bet with ABC’s Jake Tapper that if the Phillies made it to the World Series, he would either shave off his goatee or donate $1000 to the charity of Tapper’s choice. After a tense standoff with a razor-wielding Press Secretary Gibbs on The Today Show, Todd went with charity, much to the disappointment of the Twitter community.

Standing with Gibbs on the White House lawn, Todd expressed hesitation, planting the flag that he might just go with charity after all. Gibbs seemed gleeful about the whole affair: “Chuck applied last night for a presidential pardon…it has been denied,” he said. Eventually, he opted to write two checks for $1000, one to Dr. Shershah Syed, an OB-GYN in Pakistan who treats women with few other options, and one to Samaritan Inns, a set of transitional homes dedicated to helping the homeless and recovering addicts.

Twitter was impressed by his generosity, but on the whole seemed a little disappointed that they wouldn’t get to see a Caillou-scrubbed Todd.

The DC crowd won’t be too sad, though. Politico interviewed reporters including John Harwood, Mike Emanuel, and Mark Knoller about the gamble, and they seemed to have a hard time imagining Todd without a goatee. Said Knoller: “There are a lot of people who are upset at the lighthearted manner with which Jake and Chuck are dealing with their beards… you won’t see me and Wolf Blitzer making bets on our beards.”

Mediaite » #goateegamble

Chuck Todd’s Goatee Lives On