Treating the Federal Communications Commission like his own personal enforcer, President Donald Trump said on social media Sunday that NBC’s Kristen Welker would be “reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment” over a TV segment he didn’t like.
In a separate post, Trump complained in all caps about “fake polls” and said “something must be done about it,” adding, “FCC to the rescue!”
The posts were Trump’s most explicit efforts yet to direct the FCC to carry out his wishes. FCC Chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee and close ally, did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the matter.
Trump posted a long missive Sunday about what he described as mischaracterizations of his endorsement record in primaries.
He wrote: “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. How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves?”
The FCC has limited power over issues like this, and its own website states the agency “cannot prevent the broadcast of any particular point of view,” so the notion of “punishment” for Welker, the moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” would historically be a nonstarter.
But Carr has been quick to respond to Trump’s requests to go after media organizations. And he has taken aggressive action against some FCC licensees, particularly ABC, whose parent company, Disney, filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the commission earlier this month.
In March, Carr issued a threat to broadcasters over their coverage of the Iran war after the president made a similar complaint on Truth Social.
In April, the FCC chair initiated an unusual challenge to ABC’s local station licenses, one day after Trump called for comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s firing.
Carr justified the widely criticized action by citing his probe of Disney’s diversity practices.
He similarly has an open investigation into NBC’s parent company, Comcast, over what he has called “invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”
Former FCC officials from both parties have criticized Carr for trying to weaponize the agency and chill free speech. Trump, meantime, has singled out Carr for praise.
On Sunday, Trump claimed Welker will be “reported” to the FCC “because of this purposeful inaccuracy.”
Anyone can file a complaint to the FCC, though there is no option for objecting to a news report.
Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the commission, responded to Trump’s posts by saying that “the FCC has no authority to punish journalists this administration doesn’t like.”
“These threats to press freedom are dangerous,” Gomez wrote on X. “They undermine the foundation of our democracy, and they have no place in it.”
Welker made the comment in question while appearing on NBC’s local Washington, DC, station to promote “Meet the Press.”
Her observation about “mixed results” was backed up by NBC’s recent reporting, which noted that “six Trump-backed candidates for House and governor lost their primaries” earlier this month.
Other news outlets, including CNN, have also described Trump’s recent endorsement record as “mixed.”
An NBC News spokesperson said, “Kristen is one of the best in the business and we stand by her.”
The president has criticized Welker repeatedly in the past couple of years while also seeking out her attention and granting her multiple interviews.
Trump’s Sunday post focused on his anger over the media’s coverage about his endorsement record. Trump concluded by flattering the FCC appointees: “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.”
The subject also came up on Friday’s edition of HBO’s “Real Time,” when Bill Maher said that he heard from the president after saying on his previous episode that “Trump used to win all of his endorsements, now he’s winning almost none of them.” (HBO and CNN share the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.)
“I heard from one viewer who was very upset about this, contacted me directly,” Maher said, indicating that the president texted him with charts to disprove the claim.
“It’s a little more nuanced, but yes, I overstated it,” Maher said. “Now, stop texting.”
By CNN
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