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President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker would be reported to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for potential punishment after she characterized his primary endorsement record as producing mixed results.
“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 defended Welker in a statement to Fox News Digital on Sunday, backing its “Meet the Press” moderator following Trump’s threat.
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President Donald Trump called for Kristen Welker to be reported to the FCC over her characterization of his primary endorsement record as producing “mixed results.” (Adam Bettcher/NBC via Getty Images)
“Kristen is one of the best in the business and we stand by her,” an NBC News spokesperson said.
Welker did not make the remark during Sunday’s “Meet the Press” broadcast. She made it earlier on Sunday during a live preview appearance on NBC4 Washington, saying Trump had endorsed “a slate of candidates in the primaries” and “had some mixed results.”
Welker, citing NBC reporting, predicted Trump would “loom large” over the midterms and immediately cited Darline Graham’s primary victory as his most recent endorsement success.
“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.
Welker made the disputed remark during a live appearance on NBC4 Washington before Sunday’s “Meet the Press” broadcast. (William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images)
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CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter criticized Trump’s demand Sunday, characterizing it as an effort to use the FCC against a journalist over unfavorable coverage.
“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.
A Fox News Trump Primary Endorsement Tracker published Thursday found Trump-backed candidates had won all 24 Republican Senate primaries in which he endorsed and 214 of 218 House primaries, producing a 100% Senate success rate and a roughly 98% House rate.
The two victories Trump identified came Tuesday. Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman in South Carolina’s Senate runoff, while former state Sen. Mike Mazzei defeated Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond by approximately 2,000 votes for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
The Fox News tracker recorded victories for 16 of Trump’s 21 gubernatorial picks. His five defeated candidates included Pamela Evette in South Carolina, Mike Lindell in Minnesota and Megan Degenfelder in Wyoming.
Trump urged FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to take the matter “very seriously” and consider “rebuke or punishment.” (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Trump accused news organizations of using his losses to discount a broader record he described as historically strong.
“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.
He ended his post by appealing directly to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
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“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 news distortion could affect license renewals.
The FCC, however, licenses individual stations rather than networks such as NBC, and its published policy requires evidence that a report was deliberately intended to mislead viewers, distinguishing deliberate distortion from an inaccuracy or difference of opinion.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the FCC for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.