A visibly agitated President Trump stormed off his interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” after a testy exchange with a reporter who grilled him over his claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Trump lashed out at moderator Kristen Welker after she insisted he failed to provide a shred of evidence about his disputed accusations that the 2020 election was “rigged” against him or that the elections in California are subject to malfeasance.
“You’re a one-sided crooked network,” Trump fumed during the interview, which aired Sunday. “Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”
Welker pleaded with Trump to continue, recalling how she trekked over to Wisconsin for the interview, but the president was done.
“I sat in the rain with you for an hour,” he grumbled.
“On and off in the rain, and I’ve given you enough time. You ought to straighten out your press,” he added. “A country can never be great with a dishonest press.”
After airing that testy exchange, Welker revealed that she spoke with Trump afterward and he agreed to do a follow-up interview with her, though it’s not clear when.
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Welker claimed that she and Trump acknowledged complications caused by the rain during the interview that aired Sunday.
The interview had started to get testy towards the final six minutes when Welker pressed Trump on a proposed $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that aimed to award cash payouts to victims of federal “lawfare.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed to lawmakers last week that the Justice Department scrapped the controversial fund.
But some skeptics raised concerns that it could get revived.
Trump called the fund a “great idea” and said he’d be “disappointed’ if it doesn’t get approved.
Welker then pressed Trump about whether Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters should be able to get money from a hypothetical “anti-weaponization” fund.
“Now, I don’t know what’s going to happen with the weaponization fund. I love the idea,” Trump said. “People like stupid [former President Joe] Biden, he’s not smart enough to know what’s going on, but people that surrounded him … what they did to the lives of people, they destroyed people. They sent people to jail who did nothing wrong.”
Welker shot back that “there’s no evidence of what you’re saying” and tried to pivot to a question about Blanche instead. But then Trump brought up the 2020 election.
“The election was rigged. It was a dirty election,” Trump snapped about the election, which he lost to Biden before winning in 2024 against Democrat Kamala Harris.
The NBC host noted that Trump hasn’t presented evidence to prove his dubious claims about the 2020 election. Eventually, after a tense exchange, Trump opted to cut the interview short.
