NBC Defends David Gregory Speaking Before Group That Lobbies for GOP Causes

“Meet the Press” moderator David Gregory is getting some flack for speaking to a gathering of the National Federation of Independent Business. The group, while bi-partisan, lobbies on behalf of Republican causes. ThinkProgress reports, the NFIB “spent over $1 million on outside ads in the 2010 campaign — all of it backing Republican House and Senate candidates.”

Gregory is delivering today’s keynote, and is joined by other conference speakers including former GW Bush adviser Karl Rove and political consultants Charlie Cook and Stuart Rothenberg.

An NBC News spokeswoman tells TVNewser, “David finds it constructive to speak to and take questions from a variety of audiences. He was not compensated.”