President Trump called on the Federal Communications Commission to act against NBC’s “Meet the Press” journalist Kristen Welker on Sunday, alleging that her coverage of his endorsements in primary elections were done with “purposeful inaccuracy.” It marks Trump’s latest call upon the federal regulatory agency to act against coverage that he deems antagonistic. The tactic led to a lawsuit from Disney earlier in August, with the studio alleging that the FCC’s ahead-of-schedule review of ABC broadcast television licenses is an attack on the outlet’s First Amendment rights.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that he would be reporting Welker to the FCC for “rebuke or punishment” for her coverage.
“He’s going to loom large over these midterms. There’s no doubt about that,” Welker reported on a local affiliate Sunday morning. “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.”
Trump took issue with Welker’s framing of “mixed results,” taking to Truth Social shortly after.
“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 posted Sunday. “How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves? Results are attached. Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment.”
While the Trump-endorsed Graham and Mazzei each won GOP nominations for their respective Senate races, other candidates with the president’s backing have suffered losses this primary season, including Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), former My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell in Minnesota and Amir Hassan in Michigan.
Trump’s post continued, “Unfortunately, she is not the only one. The Radical Left News is going out of their way to harass, demean, and libel anything ‘TRUMP.’ 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. If it were not, I would be the first to admit it. Darline Graham’s run for the Senate was the biggest story in all of Politics, because she wasn’t expected to win, and then, when I Endorsed her, and she easily won, the story of her Victory was hardly covered by anybody. Likewise, the future Governor of Oklahoma, who was behind in every Poll, I Endorsed him, he won, and the story was barely covered! 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. Thank you for your attention to this very important matter of Fake Polls and Commentary!”
“Kristen is one of the best in the business and we stand by her,” an NBC News spokesperson said when asked for comment on Trump’s post.
The Truth Social post is Trump’s latest outburst against Welker. In June, he walked out of a “Meet the Press” interview with her after the host challenged his debunked claims that the 2020 presidential election results were fraudulent.
Trump’s push to turn the FCC towards NBC comes as the federal agency fields the ABC lawsuit, which claims the president’s administration has “waged a retaliatory campaign” against the network over its broadcasts. The suit, filed Aug. 18, further seeks to block the FCC “from taking or threatening to take any action” against Disney, ABC and its eight owned-and-operated television stations in connection with early license renewal applications.
In another post Sunday, Trump called on the FCC to come “to the rescue” against “fake polls used by our crooked media.” Per the New York Times, Trump’s approval rating have hovered around a low 38 percent average for months.
