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Trump targets Welker
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday that NBC’s Kristen Welker would be “reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment” after Welker described his endorsement record as having “mixed results.”
“Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment”
Trump’s post also complained about “THE FAKE POLLS USED BY OUR CROOKED MEDIA” and added “FCC TO THE RESCUE!” as he pressed the Federal Communications Commission to act.
The dispute centers on Welker’s comments during a live shot on NBC’s Washington, D.C., affiliate ahead of Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” where she said Trump “has had some mixed results.”
Reuters reported that Trump’s comments were part of an aggressive series of attacks on the news media, and it noted that the FCC has limited power over complaints about broadcast content under the First Amendment.
An NBC spokesperson responded to Reuters by saying: “Kristen is one of the best in the business and we stand by her.”
FCC power and pushback
The FCC’s limited role in content disputes was emphasized in Reuters’ account, which quoted the FCC’s position that it generally will not intervene because it would be inconsistent with the First Amendment to replace “journalistic judgment of licensees with our own.”
Reuters also tied Trump’s threats to a broader pattern, noting that ABC and Disney sued the FCC earlier this month to block an early review of licenses for eight ABC stations.
In a separate response to Trump’s posts, Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the commission, said the FCC has “no authority to punish journalists this administration doesn’t like.”
Gomez added: “These threats to press freedom are dangerous,” and CNN reported that Welker made the “mixed results” remark while appearing on NBC’s local Washington, DC, station to promote “Meet the Press.”
CNN further reported that Trump’s Sunday post invoked FCC Chair Brendan Carr and that an NBC News spokesperson said, “Kristen is one of the best in the business and we stand by her.”
Endorsements, midterms, and fallout
Reuters said Trump pointed to recent endorsement wins including Darline Graham in the Republican primary runoff in South Carolina for U.S. Senate and Mike Mazzei in the Republican nominating race for governor of Oklahoma.
“including wins by Darline Graham in the Republican primary runoff in South Carolina”
At the same time, Reuters reported that Trump suffered recent setbacks where his preferred candidates lost Republican primaries for governor in Iowa, Georgia, Wyoming and Minnesota.
The Guardian added that Welker’s live-shot framing came before Trump’s social media attack, and it described Trump’s claim that he had “some mixed results” rebutted by highlighting Darline Graham’s victory and Mike Mazzei’s primary win.
The Guardian also stated that Trump is estimated to have made more than 300 endorsements that resulted in the recipient winning, and it said that in the election cycle leading up to November’s midterms, 214 of the 218 House candidates he endorsed won their primaries.
Reuters concluded that broadcast stations need FCC licenses to use public airwaves and that while license revocations are extremely rare, critics say the threat of losing a license can pressure broadcasters and raise concerns about government interference in editorial and programming decisions.