Not only did new Meet The Press moderator Kristen Welker allow Trump to lie, but she also gave him the platform to jeopardize national security.
It didn’t have to be this way. Kristen Welker could have countered Trump with the facts, stood up for democracy, and chose to treat Trump like a former president who incited an insurrection, attempted a coup against the United States, and is trying to return to the presidency to avoid prison.
Instead, Welker treated Trump like a typical political candidate not facing felony charges for crimes against the nation.
Below are a selection of clips. Usually, I would transcribe the video, but Trump’s lies are so dangerous that putting them in print would only spread them.
Welker allowed the former president who incited the 1/6 attack to blame former Speaker Pelosi for the attack:
Trump thinks that Republicans can win on abortion if they just find the right number of weeks for a federal ban:
The big moment where Trump accepts Putin’s endorsement for the 2024 election:
Kristen Welker and Meet The Press Jeopardized National Security By Giving Trump An Unchecked Platform
What Welker and Meet The Press did was worse than access journalism. It could be argued that the interview was worse than normalizing Trump and not pushing back on his lies.
Welker and Meet The Press allowed Trump to justify an attempted coup against the United States, talk up America’s enemies like Russia, and make the country less safe.
The Meet The Press interview was akin to interviewing a terrorist and allowing them to use the platform as a recruiting tool.
Trump is not a regular presidential candidate. He is facing 91 felony counts, many related to an attempted coup and the destruction of democracy.
It could be argued that it is important for the nation to be reminded of who and what Trump is, but that educational process can’t happen if people like Kristen Welker choose not to push back and uphold their obligation to truth as journalists.
Kristen Welker’s Trump interview was a textbook example of how NOT to interview an authoritarian threat to democracy.
The interview was an embarrassing disgrace.
Trump’s method of operation is to demand that mainstream journalists agree to criteria before he will do an interview with them. Welker and Meet The Press appear to have made some kind of agreement because the idea that they would enable Trump to jeopardize national security for a potential debut episode ratings bump voluntarily is too chilling to comprehend.
The media is failing and jeopardizing the very democracy they depend on by treating the national security threat of Trump as just another candidate.
