In the final segment of Sunday’s episode of Meet the Press on NBC, Chuck Todd announced that, after more than nine years, he would be leaving his position as the program’s moderator.

In 2014, Todd took over as the host of Meet the Press. He succeeded David Gregory, who took over after Tim Russert passed away in 2008. Russert was the show’s longest-serving moderator.

Also Read: After Chuck Todd leaving meet the press, social media users call for Andrea Mitchell’s ouster

Who was Tim Russert?

Timothy John Russert was an American television journalist and lawyer. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, the head of the Washington bureau, and the anchor of a weekend interview program on CNBC and MSNBC with the same name. He frequently contributed to and appeared as a guest on Hardball and The Today Show on NBC.

Russert covered numerous presidential races and delivered the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey on NBC Nightly News during the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

Russert, who died in 2008 at the age of 58, fell ill as he was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s Meet the Press show. He was taken by ambulance to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, but efforts to revive him proved fruitless. According to Russert’s doctor, Michael Newman, acute coronary thrombosis was brought on by a cholesterol plaque rupture in an artery.

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Russert was listed as one of the 100 most influential persons in the world by Time magazine in 2008. After his passing, Russert was identified as syndicated journalist Robert Novak’s 30-year source.

Many fans were unimpressed when Chris Todd replaced Russert on NBC’s Meet the Press. But now that Todd has made his resignation official, the fans are celebrating and paying respects to the late Chuck Todd.

One user on Twitter wrote, “About time! Haven’t watched the show for almost the entire 9 years. Tim Russert is the standard. Hire people like Tim. I knew Tim Russert. I listened to Tim every week. Chuck, you are no Tim Russert,” while another commented, “I’m no huge fan of NBC, but I’m sure glad they’re replacing Chuck Todd at Meet the Press. He never felt like a worthy successor to Tim Russert. He was more of a “well, he’s going to have to work I guess” kind of choice to me.”

Also Read: Why is Chuck Todd leaving Meet The Press? net worth, wife, salary, age, low ratings and more

A third social media user posted, “Todd was too busy trying to be a Washington insider instead of a journalist. He was a horrible replacement for Tim Russert who always asked the tough questions. Todd gave credibility to Maga instead of tossing their asses of the air for spreading misinformation. Good riddance.”