President Donald Trump said Sunday that he plans to report NBC News anchor Kristen Welker to the Federal Communications Commission, accusing the “Meet the Press” moderator of deliberately misrepresenting his record of endorsements in Republican primary races and calling for possible disciplinary action.
Trump’s criticism followed comments Welker made during an appearance on NBC4 Washington, where she described the results of candidates backed by the president as mixed. Trump countered that his endorsed candidates have won 100% of the Senate primaries and approximately 98% of the House primaries tracked by Fox News.
“Kristen Welker, the Unpopular ‘Hostess’ of the once great Meet the Press, now considered Meet the Fake Press, just stated that Donald Trump has ‘mixed results’ on his Endorsements of Candidates, when the recent WINS of Darline Graham and Mike Mazzei, stand at 100% for the U.S. Senate, and 98% for the U.S. House, recently and over the longterm,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves? Results are attached,” Trump continued. “Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment. Unfortunately, she is not the only one.”
NBC News responded to Trump’s announcement Sunday by publicly defending Welker, who serves as moderator of “Meet the Press.”
“Kristen is one of the best in the business and we stand by her,” an NBC News spokesperson said.
Welker did not make the disputed statement during Sunday’s edition of “Meet the Press.” The comment came earlier in the day while she was appearing live on NBC4 Washington to preview the program. During that appearance, she said Trump had backed “a slate of candidates in the primaries” and “had some mixed results.”
Citing NBC’s own reporting, Welker also predicted that Trump would “loom large” over the upcoming midterm elections. She immediately pointed to Darline Graham’s recent primary victory as an example of a Trump-backed candidate prevailing.
“He’s going to loom large over these midterms. There’s no doubt about that. He, of course, has endorsed a slate of candidates in the primaries. He’s had some mixed results, but most recently, his pick of Senator Darline Graham, of course, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, was successful in her primary battle, so now she takes on Dr. Annie Andrews in South Carolina,” Welker said.
CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter criticized Trump’s call for FCC action, portraying the president’s demand as an attempt to wield the federal agency against a journalist because of coverage he disliked.
“Trump is getting more explicit about weaponizing the FCC. This morning he said @kwelkernbc will be ‘reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment’ for saying something he didn’t like about his endorsement record. (By law, the FCC can’t punish Welker.) And that’s not all…” Stelter posted to X.
According to a Fox News tracker published Thursday, Trump-endorsed candidates won all 24 Republican Senate primaries in which he made an endorsement and prevailed in 214 of 218 House primaries. Those figures translate to a 100% success rate in Senate contests and approximately 98% in House races.
Two of the victories highlighted by Trump came Tuesday. Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman in the Republican Senate runoff in South Carolina, while former Oklahoma state Sen. Mike Mazzei defeated state Attorney General Gentner Drummond by roughly 2,000 votes to secure the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
Trump’s gubernatorial endorsements produced a somewhat different record, according to the Fox News tracker. Sixteen of the 21 candidates he backed won their races, while five were defeated, including Pamela Evette in South Carolina, Mike Lindell in Minnesota and Megan Degenfelder in Wyoming.
Trump accused media organizations of focusing on those defeats as a way of diminishing what he characterized as an extraordinarily successful overall endorsement record.
“Their new weapon is to say that my 99% SUCCESS Rate on Endorsements, 100% on Senatorial Endorsements (Many of whom were not even given a shot of winning until I Endorsed!), is either a mixed result, or not very good. In actuality, it is, without question, the strongest Endorsement in the History of Politics,” Trump said.
The president concluded by directing his appeal to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and urging the commission to treat the issue seriously.
“The Press is a Disgrace to our Nation, and I hope that Chairman Brendan Carr, and the fine people of his Commission, will take this Threat to our Country very seriously,” Trump said.
Carr has previously warned broadcasters that alleged news distortion could become a consideration during the license-renewal process.
The FCC, however, licenses individual broadcast stations rather than networks such as NBC. Under the commission’s published news-distortion policy, action requires evidence that a report was deliberately intended to mislead an audience, rather than simply involving an error, disputed characterization or difference of opinion.
{Matzav.com}
