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President Donald Trump is threatening to report NBC News journalist Kristen Welker to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) after she described his record of endorsing political candidates as having “mixed results.”
Welker, host of Meet the Press, made the comment Sunday (August 30) during a pre-show appearance on WRC, NBC’s Washington, D.C., affiliate.
Trump responded on Truth Social, calling Welker the “Unpopular ‘Hostess’” of what he described as “Meet the Fake Press.”
He disputed her characterization of his endorsements, pointing to recent victories by Darline Graham and Mike Mazzei and claiming his endorsed candidates have won 100% of U.S. Senate primaries and 98% of U.S. House primaries.
“How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves?” Trump wrote. “Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment.”
Welker’s characterization came as several Trump-backed candidates have lost their primaries. As of August 19, 10 candidates endorsed by Trump had lost Republican primaries, including six losses that month, according to a CNN analysis published by KCRA 3 News.
The FCC regulates television and radio broadcasters that use public airwaves, but its authority over the content of news broadcasts is limited by the First Amendment.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez pushed back on Trump’s threat, writing on X that the agency has “no authority to punish journalists this administration doesn’t like.”
She added, "These threats to press freedom are dangerous. They undermine the foundation of our democracy, and they have no place in it.”
NBC also defended Welker, who became the first Black journalist to moderate Meet the Press when she took over the program in 2023.
“Kristen is one of the best in the business and we stand by her,” a network spokesperson told The Hill.
Trump’s latest attack on Welker comes less than three months after the president clashed with Welker during a June Meet the Press interview, calling her “crooked” before walking away from the interview, BIN reported.
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