WASHINGTON — President Trump raged at “Meet the Press” anchor Kristen Welker Sunday for casting aspersions on his endorsement record — saying she should be reprimanded by the FCC.
Welker said Trump had “mixed results” with his highly coveted endorsement in GOP primary elections this cycle, but Trump lashed out at the claim and urged FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to take the “Threat to our Country very seriously.”
“How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves? Results are attached. Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment,” Trump bristled on Truth Social. “Unfortunately, she is not the only one.”
NBC News runs a network of local broadcast stations that get FCC licenses.
The government issues those licenses because there is limited public airwave spectrum.
Carr has threatened to turn up the heat on broadcast networks that he feels are biased.
The Trump administration has previously targeted ABC News, triggering a lawsuit.
Trump had made some 313 endorsements and had a 96% success rate, according to Ballotpedia. Many of those endorsements were in primaries that weren’t very competitive.
But even in highly competitive races, Trump’s endorsement usually proved to be critical, such as the Texas, Louisiana, and South Carolina Senate races.
Still, Trump had multiple notable setbacks, including his endorsement of retiring scandal-plagued Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), Amir Hassan in Michigan, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), Randy Feenstra in Iowa, Burt Jones in Georgia, Mike Lindell in Minnesota, and more.
Trump noted that he had a 100% success rate in GOP Senate primaries and 98% success rate in House GOP primaries. He contended that many of the candidates he backed “were not even given a shot of winning until I Endorsed.”
He pointed to his backing of Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) in her primary runoff last week and Mike Mazzei’s victory in the Oklahoma GOP gubernatorial primary.
“The Radical Left News is going out of their way to harass, demean, and libel anything ‘TRUMP,’” the president fumed. “…In actuality, it is, without question, the strongest Endorsement in the History of Politics.”
“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 concluded. “Thank you for your attention to this very important matter of Fake Polls and Commentary.”
Trump previously lashed out at comedian Bill Maher in private text messages for trashing his endorsement record, prompting an on-air acknowledgment from the “Real Time” host that the president was right.
The Post contacted NBC News for comment.
