Topline
President Donald Trump lashed out at “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker on Sunday morning before the show aired, accusing her of reporting a “purposeful inaccuracy” by stating candidates endorsed by the president have gotten “mixed results” in recent primary elections and insisted he would report the host to the Federal Communication Commission.
The president took issue with Welker’s characterization of his record for endorsing candidates during the primary elections as having “mixed results.”
William B. Plowman /NBC via Getty Images
Key Facts
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday morning, Trump attacked Welker for comments about his “mixed results” from primary endorsements, sharing statistics that show candidates he endorsed winning 98% of Republican House primaries and 100% of Republican Senate primaries this year.
“How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves,” the president asked, before accusing Welker of a “purposeful inaccuracy” and threatening that she would be “reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment.”
Trump also invoked FCC Chair Brendan Carr by name, stating that he hopes the independent agency will “take this Threat to our Country very seriously.”
The FCC and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.
Surprising Fact
When Sunday’s episode of “Meet the Press” aired, Welker did not report or comment on Trump’s endorsement record in the primaries or use the phrase “mixed results,” according to a transcript of the episode. Instead, Welker made the comments in a pre-show live shot that aired on NBC’s local station in Washington, D.C., CNN’s Brian Stelter later reported. NBC News also recently reported Trump’s near-perfect endorsement record only fell after six Trump-endorsed candidates lost primary elections in August.
Tangent
In a separate post on Sunday morning, Trump also attacked what he called the “FAKE POLLS USED BY OUR CROOKED MEDIA.” Recent polling has shown the president’s approval rating reaching record lows as voters complain about the Iran war and rising costs, although he largely remains popular with his Republican base. “SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT IT,” Trump threatened vaguely, before adding “FCC TO THE RESCUE!” It is unclear what the FCC would be able to do to impact pollsters.
Key Background
Trump’s threats against NBC come after months of threats against broadcaster ABC, which is owned by Disney. These included an unprecedented early review of ABC’s broadcast licenses, prompting Disney to sue the regulatory agency earlier this month alleging a “retaliatory campaign” against the network. The company accused the FCC of using threats against ABC’s broadcast licenses as a means of “punishing ABC for its speech,” which came after threats from Trump to the network’s shows including late night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and daytime talk show “The View.”