NBC: Chuck Todd's show invites Rep. Don Young for an interview - except the lawmaker died in March

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A GOP lawmaker was invited to appear on Chuck Todd's show on Friday, but the odds of him being able to appear are very grim. 

Zack Brown, who previously served as the communications director for Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, shared a screenshot of an email he received inviting Young to be interviewed on Todd's program "Meet the Press NOW" on the NBC News NOW streaming network. 

Except Young died in March at age 88. 

"Unfortunately, @chucktodd, I don't think Congressman Young's schedule will allow him to be on Meet the Press with you tomorrow, but I'll circle back if that changes. Thanks for reaching out!" Brown tweeted Thursday. 

Brown also shared a screenshot of his response, which said, "Sadly Congressman Young passed away in March, but you all did a lovely tribute to him!" 

He shared a link to Todd honoring Young's passing on "Meet the Press."

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Brown also told his Twitter followers, "The best part to me is if DY saw this he would cackle about it for 5 minutes before asking me to print it and laminate it so he could show all his friends on the House Floor during votes."

Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, is seen in the Capitol Visitor Center on Thursday, September 30, 2021. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

When reached for comment, Brown noted that Thursday would have been Young's 89th birthday and his 7th wedding anniversary, telling Fox News, "I'm sure he got a real kick out of it from the great beyond."

Brown revealed to Fox News that in response to his email, he got the reply, "My apologies."

NBC News declined to comment.  

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Young was the longest-serving member in the House of Representatives, joining Congress back in 1973, and was seeking a 26th term in office. Young left his wife Anne and two children.

Earlier this month, Chuck Todd launched his program "Meet the Press NOW" on the NBC News streaming network after his weekday show was booted from the MSNBC lineup. 

Chuck Todd's weekday program was recently booted from MSNBC and moved to NBC's streaming network NBC News NOW.  (Photo by: William B. Plowman/NBC)

Todd's vacant 1 p.m. ET timeslot was filled by longtime MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing. The network said last month "no jobs will be lost around this transition."  

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Carrie Budoff Brown, senior vice president of "Meet the Press," tweeted at the time, "we are very pumped about this move."

Todd's weekday shift may please some of the network's left-wing base of viewers as the MSNBC anchor is frequently the subject of social media backlash for his comments either perceived as too harsh on Democrats or not aggressive enough towards Republicans. However, Todd often squabbles with GOP guests, such as when he ripped Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., for still supporting former President Trump and snapping at Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., for criticizing media coverage of Hunter Biden.

MSNBC has shuffled its weekday programming by expanding "Morning Joe," moving Stephanie Ruhle and Rachel Maddow appearing on-air just once a week. (Photo by Kim Kulish/Corbis via Getty Images)

The move by MSNBC is the latest major shift in its programming. Last month, its biggest star Rachel Maddow officially rolled back her on-air presence, hosting her primetime show only on Mondays following a lengthy hiatus earlier this year. 

Her 9 p.m. ET timeslot has been replaced with "MSNBC Prime" from Tuesday through Friday and will feature a rotation of hosts.

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Earlier this year, MSNBC expanded "Morning Joe" into a whopping 4-hour program and shuffled MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle into "The 11th Hour" on weeknights, replacing left-wing anchor Brian Williams after his exit late last year.

Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki will soon join MSNBC and host her own show on the Peacock streaming service. Symone Sanders similarly parted ways with the Biden administration earlier this year to join MSNBC and is now the host of a weekend program.