NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ moderator Kristen Welker has drawn criticism from conservatives for her performance during Sunday’s sit-down with President-elect Donald Trumphis first major interview since winning the presidential election.
Trump discussed a number of topics during the wide-ranging interview, including his plan to restore the country’s reputation worldwide, forgiving rioters on January 6, immigration, his disdain for FBI Director Christopher Wray, and how he plans to unite a broken country in his inaugural speech. Many Trump supporters were unimpressed with Welker, including NewsBusters analyst Jorge Bonilla, who felt she was unfair.
“Meet Depressed Host Kristen Welker’s conversation with the former and future president included some newsworthy items, but was mostly a showcase for her blatant deceptions,” wrote Bonilla.
Bonilla accused Welker of “the debunked and ridiculed lie about migrants not taking over Colorado apartment complexes,” issuing a “fake fact check based on a lie” about the 14th Amendment and blaming Trump for the division in America.
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President-elect Donald Trump speaks with NBC News host Kristen Welker in his first interview since winning the election. (Screenshot/NBC)
“Is this interview a preview of what the next four years will look like? Probably not. As one presidency transitions to another, it is not unreasonable to expect the media to transition from the regime to the resistance. But today we got a glimpse. A media that insists on pushing ahead with false stories, and a President Trump who plows right through them,” Bonilla wrote.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah., has blasted NBC News for “selectively omitting” a key part of the 14th Amendment in a question about birthright citizenship.
Trump was asked about some of the changes he plans to make once he takes office, including his plan put an end to birthright. Under the 14th Amendment, someone born in the U.S. is granted citizenship regardless of whether their parents are citizens. Trump confirmed he plans to end the policy “on day one,” calling it “ridiculous.”
Welker pushed back, arguing that the 14th Amendment “states that all persons in the United States are citizens. Can you circumvent the 14th Amendment with executive action?” she asked.
Trump said he was open to executive action and reiterated that the US is “the only country that has this” and “we have to put an end to it.”
Lee shared a clip of the exchange on X later on Sunday, in which he chided the NBC host for omitting six words critical of the 14th Amendment in her question to Trump.
“All persons born… in the United States, *and subject to the jurisdiction thereof* shall be citizens of the United States,” Lee wrote on X, highlighting the missing words with asterisks.
“Those words matter,” he added.
Lee has laid out the issue in a long thread.
“Congress has the power to define what it means to be born in the United States ‘and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,’” he wrote. “It bothers me that @MeetThePress, long revered as America’s premier Sunday political news program, has become so one-sided.”
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President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to pardon the January 6 protesters and rioters once he takes office. (Screenshot/NBC)
Journalist Thomas Stevenson mocked Welker social media.
“Welker is trying to do journalism by forcing Trump to commit to a federal minimum wage,” he wrote on X.
Trump even called Welker to her face at one point.
“You have such potential. If you could be fair and unbiased. You hurt yourself so bad,” Trump said.
Many others went to X with their thoughts on the interview:
Communications guru Yitz Friedman of the American Accountability Foundation placed a long wire also criticized Welker, who took over hosting of “Meet the Press” last year.
“Welker is leaning down on Trump and appears to be trying to convince him to raise the minimum wage instead of asking him a question. Totally inappropriate. Trump will then educate her on basic economics,” Friedman wrote in a clip in which Welker asked Trump about the minimum wage.
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Friedman also wrote that Trump made a point about Obamacare that “went over her head” when he explained that he wanted to repeal and replace Obamacare but still tried to make it work for the good of the American people.
“She just doesn’t get it. It’s actually quite hilarious to watch,” Friedman wrote.
NBC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Fox News Digital’s Yael Halon and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
