Chuck Todd Chickens Out on Goatee Bet

Chuck Todd isn’t shaving off his goatee, despite having lost a baseball bet to Jake Tapper. The NBC talking head has taken the coward’s way out and will donate to charity instead. Todd was supposed to shed his trademark goatee if the Dodgers lost the NLCS; had they won, his ABC rival would have had to grow some facial hair. But they had an escape clause: Either could opt out and donate $1,000 to charity. Todd will go the extra mile, donating $2,000 to two charities.

“Apparently, if I’m clean shaven, I could invalidate my WH travel credentials,” he tweeted today. But the White House didn't seem pleased, Politico reports. “Chuck applied last night for a presidential pardon,” joked spokesman Robert Gibbs. “It has been denied.” (More Chuck Todd stories.)