New Meet The Press moderator Kristen Welker did not get off to an encouraging start, as she allowed Trump to lie without pushback and treated him like a normal candidate instead of a defendant who tried to overthrow the US government.
Here is how Welker described Trump on MSNBC:
I think that you heard former president Trump, who is fired up about a lot of these issues and trying to draw sharp contrast with President Biden. We should say manufacturing has gone up in recent years. I thought it was notable. He would like to win the endorsement of the auto workers.
I read back that statement from the president of the union underscoring how hard that will be. The union hasn’t endorsed President Biden. Taking a step back, it speaks to the importance of unions in this upcoming election and of this state. This is a state, Michigan, that former president Trump won in 2016, lost in 2020. It is always quite close. He is clearly making a very strong play for it as well. Of course, leaning into his deal-making status, which he talks about, of course, a lot.
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From watching the clips of Welker’s interview with Trump, a person would not know that the former president tried to overthrow the United States government after he lost a legitimate election less than four years ago. Welker allowed Trump to lie about Jack Smith, electric vehicles, and his criminal charges.
Chuck Todd wasn’t the main problem on Meet The Press. and anyone who believes in the Tim Russert mythology needs to go back and watch some full episodes of Meet The Press. Russert picked Chuck Todd to be his successor. Todd picked Welker to follow him.
Trump is threatening to destroy democracy if he returns to the White House, and the response of Meet The Press is to treat Trump like any other candidate.
Welker’s clips with Trump are proof that the media is not going to try to uphold the nation’s democratic institutions. By treating Trump like any other candidate, they are enabling his efforts to destroy democracy.