President Donald Trump said “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker will be reported to the Federal Communications Commission over her coverage of his endorsements ahead of the midterm elections.
“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,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Aug. 30.
USA TODAY has reached out to NBC for comment.
Trump added, “Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment. Unfortunately, she is not the only one.”
Kristen Welker listens during the second 2020 presidential campaign debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden in Nashville, Tennessee on Oct. 22, 2020.
Donald Trump ends tense ‘Meet the Press’ interview, walks away from host
Despite Trump’s post, the FCC doesn’t have much legal power to take action against Welker as an individual, but his comments escalate his criticism of the journalist.
In early June, Trump made headlines when he abruptly exited an “MTP” interview with Welker after a tense back-and-forth, when the NBC anchor pushed back on the president’s comments about California election security.
FCC has become increasingly political, critics say
The FCC licenses individual broadcast stations, not national networks such as NBC and ABC. The agency’s website says both the First Amendment and Communications Act of 1934 prohibit it from censoring broadcast content and that its “role in overseeing program content is very limited.”
Disney and ABC sued the agency over what they called an unconstitutional “retaliatory campaign” against the network in an Aug. 18 lawsuit.
Critics say the FCC has become increasingly political during Trump’s second term under the leadership of Brendan Carr, who Trump referenced in the Truth Social post as he wrote that “The Press is a Disgrace to our Nation.”
Though its website had previously described the FCC as an “independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress,” Carr said in a December Senate hearing that the FCC was “not an independent agency formally speaking” because of the president’s power to fire commissioners. As of Aug. 30, the FCC website described it as a “U.S. government agency overseen by Congress.”
Trump does have a strong 2026 endorsement record, but some candidates he supported lost recent primaries.
In Wyoming, Megan Degenfelder, who leads the state’s department of public instruction, lost in a Wyoming Republican primary for governor. Rep. Cory Mills lost his reelection bid in Florida as did Tennessee congressman Andy Ogles, a controversial House member. In Minnesota, longtime Trump ally and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell also lost a GOP primary for governor.
Contributing: Emily Condon, BrieAnna Frank
BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at bjfrank@usatoday.com.
USA TODAY’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says ‘Meet the Press’ host Kristen Welker will be reported to FCC
