David Gregory reflected on his July 2014 firing from NBC's "Meet The Press" in a conversation with HuffPost Live on Tuesday, telling host Josh Zepps that the media's fixation on his future at the show hurt the program itself.
"It was becoming too much about me," Gregory said. "It was hurting what I was trying to do -- and the show, what we were all trying to do to make the show better."
Gregory knew his time moderating the Sunday morning news show would be short-lived when NBC didn't come to his defense amid damning press reports, he recalled.
"[When] you're being scrutinized and there's speculation about whether you're going to be fired or replaced, and knowing that those things have come within NBC, it was really important for NBC to shore me up," he explained. "I just feel like that was critical because of the politics of it, and so when it was clear that that was not going to happen, then I felt like it was time for me to go,"
Gregory, whose new book is called How's Your Faith?: An Unlikely Spiritual Journey, said that while he was "really disappointed" about the circumstances in which he left NBC, he looks back on his time at the network fondly.
"I had 20 years there. I'm grateful for it. It was a great run. I was able to do great work there, I have a lot of friends there and it was a really great experience, and I will tell you, in the good and the bad, NBC taught me about what's really important in life," Gregory said.
Watch more from David Gregory's conversation with HuffPost Live here.
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