President Donald Trump stormed out of an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker after a heated exchange over “crooked” elections.
During the pre-recorded interview, which aired Sunday on “Meet the Press,” Trump also attacked the integrity of the press, including the show he was appearing on.
He claimed the Biden administration had “sent people to jail who did nothing wrong.” Welker pushed back, stating that there has been no evidence to substantiate the president’s allegations, before attempting to steer the conversation toward acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Trump, however, doubled down.
“There’s a lot of evidence,” he said. “There’s tremendous evidence. There’s nothing but evidence.”
“Well, it’s not been presented in a court of law,” Welker replied. Trump then argued the 2020 election was rigged — a common refrain of the president’s — as he alleged rigged elections are currently taking place in California.
Republicans, he said, are “dropping fast because it’s a rigged election.” Welker questioned what evidence the president had to back up his claims of “cheating” in California’s elections.
“They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” Trump replied.
“To be fair, I’m not crooked,” Welker said. “But let’s continue.”
Trump then accused Welker of playing “right into their hands then.”
“You play right into their hands with this stuff. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they’re rigged,” he said before attacking her credibility. “You’re a one-sided crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough.”
Welker pleaded for Trump to continue the interview, pointing out she and her team had traveled all the way to Wisconsin for the interview, but Trump declined.
“You ought to straighten out your press, because you know what? A country can never be great with a dishonest press,” he said.
After the interview aired, Welker said she spoke with Trump on Saturday and he has agreed to return for a follow-up interview. She did not specify where or when that interview would take place.