In a Truth Social post on Sunday, President Donald Trump proclaimed that he was going to report NBC News moderator Kristen Welker to the Federal Communications Commission for “rebuke and punishment” over comments she made on the local D.C. affiliate NBC4 Washington. What did she say? Well, she inaccurately said Trump’s political endorsements have had “mixed results,” when the numbers didn’t bear that out.
While speaking about how Trump would “loom large over these midterms,” Welker largely dismissed the power of the President’s political endorsement and maked it seem as though a recent victory was a fluke:
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 went on to describe how Trump’s unpopularity in approval polls showed how he was actually an albatross around the necks of Republican candidates:
But this broader question: what impact will President Trump have on the midterms. He is urging Republicans and voters to go out and vote like he’s on the ballot, and that could cut both ways. Particularly in some of these battleground states and battle ground districts, in part because of the backdrop. President Trump’s approval rating at their lowest in his second term. Deeply unpopular because of the Iran War, which most Americans are opposed to.
And, of course, the Iran War has spiked prices. The price of gas above $4-a-gallon. And affordability is the number one issue for voters. So, all of that creating a lot of concern within the Republican Party about how it’s going to impact their chances in November.
Trump’s response came a few hours later.
“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 on Truth Social.
“How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves?” Trump wondered before demanding action from the FCC, “Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment.”
Trump included a graphic that noted his endorsement success rate was 98.35 percent, 24 for 24 in the Senate while in the House it was 215 out of 219.
It would likely be difficult for the FCC to take action against a single journalist since they deal with the networks and corporations broadly, as well as other macro issues for the industry and technology.
The FCC was already examining the possibility of taking action against Disney, ABC News, and The View. However, in that case, there was a body of evidence against the network as a whole, rather than just one person.
There’s also a possibility that Trump’s demand for Welker to be punished could hurt the effort to hold ABC accountable.
In their lawsuit against the FCC, Disney insisted that the Commission was specifically acting on behalf of and by orders of the President. It’s likely Disney’s lawyers would point to the Welker demand as evidence of what they told the judge was a “retaliatory campaign” against the media.
