Meredith Vieira Under Fire After Donald Trump 'Steamrolled' Her During Interview

Meredith Vieira — who is likely leaving NBC's Today show when her reported $11 million annual contract ends in September - is under fire for failing to question a number of unsubstantiated claims Donald Trump made about President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship.

During an interview that aired Thursday morning, Trump (rumored to be making a 2012 presidential run) claimed Obama was not born in the United States.  Reiterating a claim that has been proven false, Trump said, "His grandmother in Kenya said he was born in Kenya and she was there and witnessed the birth.”   Vieira didn't speak up.   "Trump simply steamrolled" her during the interview, notes Time's James Poniewozik. She "let him make the claim that Obama's grandmother said she saw him born in Kenya--an old, and long-debunked, chestnut of birthers that ranks up there with the fake Mombassa birth certificate--without questioning it. So now millions of Today viewers are invited to take it as fact."   A spokeswoman for the Today show has not commented.