NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker has taken heat from conservatives for her performance during Sunday’s sit-down with President-elect Donald Trump, his first major interview since winning the presidential election.
Trump addressed a number of topics during the wide-ranging interview, including his plan to restore the country’s reputation globally, pardoning Jan. 6 rioters, immigration, his disdain for FBI Director Christopher Wray, and how he plans to unify a fractured country in his inaugural address. Many Trump supporters came away unimpressed with Welker, including NewsBusters analyst Jorge Bonilla, who felt she wasn’t honest.
“Meet the Depressed host Kristen Welker’s sit-down with the once and future president featured some newsworthy items, but was mostly a showcase for her blatant deceptions,” Bonilla wrote.
Bonilla accused Welker of regurgitating “the debunked and ridiculed lie about migrants not taking over apartment complexes in Colorado,” issuing a “fake fact-check predicated on a lie” about the 14th Amendment, and blaming Trump for divisions in America.
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 the next, it is not unreasonable to expect the media to transition from Regime to Resistance. But today, we have a glimpse. A media insistent on plodding forward with fake narratives, and a President Trump that plows right through them,” Bonilla wrote.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah., took NBC News to task for “selectively omitting” a key part of the 14th Amendment in a question about birthright citizenship.
Trump was asked about a number of changes he intends to implement once he assumes office, including his plan to end birthright citizenship. Under the 14th Amendment, someone born in the U.S. is granted citizenship regardless of whether their parents are citizens. Trump confirmed that he intends to end the policy “on Day One,” calling it “ridiculous.”
Welker pushed back, arguing that the 14th Amendment “states all persons in the United States are citizens. Can you get around the 14th Amendment with executive action?” she asked.
Trump said he was open to using executive action, reiterating that the U.S. is “the only country that has it” and “we have to end it.”
Lee shared a clip of the exchange on X later on Sunday, rebuking the NBC host for omitting six critical words from 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 in asterisks.
“Those words matter,” he added.
Lee broke down the issue in a lengthy 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 leading Sunday political news program, has become so one-sided.”
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President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to pardon Jan. 6 protesters and rioters once he gets into office. (Screenshot/NBC)
Journalist Thomas Stevenson mocked Welker on social media.
“Welker attempts ‘journalism’ by forcing Trump to commit to a federal minimum wage level,” he posted on X.
Trump at one point even called out Welker to her face.
“You have such potential. If you could be just, just non-biased. You hurt yourself so badly,” Trump said.
Many others took to X with thoughts on the interview:
American Accountability Foundation communications guru Yitz Friedman posted a long thread also castigating Welker, who took over hosting “Meet the Press” last year.
“Welker condescends to Trump, appearing to be trying to convince him to raise the minimum wage rather than asking him a question. Totally inappropriate. Trump proceeds to educate her on basic economics,” Friedman wrote to accompany a clip of Welker asking 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 kind of 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.
