President Donald Trump stormed out of his interview with “Meet the Press” after getting into a verbal sparring match with Kristen Welker over claims of election fraud.
Tensions began rising when Welker pressed Trump on if, in the face of bipartisan resistance, he planned to push forward with his $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund meant to protect individuals who claimed to be persecuted by the federal government, including those who raided the Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump claimed that the people who were involved in the attack had “lost everything” and that on the day, “they had FBI agents ushering them into the building.” Welker repeatedly pushed back on the latter, asserting that Trump had “no evidence of that.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with the weaponization fund,” Trump stated. “I love the idea, because people like you, the fake dirty press, the crooked press, people like stupid Biden, he’s not smart enough to know what’s going on, but people that surrounded him, surrounded his beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, what they did to the lives of people, they destroyed people. They sent people to jail who did nothing wrong.”
“Just to be very clear, there’s no evidence of what you’re saying,” Welker replied.
Trump argued there was “tremendous evidence” before saying that “the election was rigged.”
After more back and forth (Welker claims “no evidence,” Trump doubles down), the President lashed out at Welker and “Meet the Press.”
“They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked,” Trump declared. “And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked.”
“To be fair, I’m not crooked,” Welker said.
“Well, you play right into their hands then,” Trump replied. “You’re either crooked or you’re stupid.”
Eventually, Trump had enough and told Welker before walking off, “You’re a one-sided crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”
The interview took place in Wisconsin on Friday and aired on “Meet the Press” Sunday morning.