Trump Says He’s Reporting NBC News’ Kristen Welker to the FCC for ‘Punishment’ as Network Stands by Her

Donald Trump said he is going to report Kristen Welker to the FCC for ‘punishment’ in an Aug. 30 Truth Social post after Welker reported on the ‘mixed results’ of Trump-endorsed candidates, citing six recent election losses. NBC News defended Welker in a statement to PEOPLE.

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Donald Trump said he is going to report Kristen Welker to the FCC for “punishment” in an Aug. 30 Truth Social post

The attack came after Welker reported on the “mixed results” of Trump-endorsed candidates, citing six recent election losses

NBC News defended Welker in a statement to PEOPLE, stating, “Kristen is one of the best in the business, and we stand by her”

Donald Trump says he plans to report NBC News’ Kristen Welker to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The president, 80, took aim at the Meet the Press moderator in a Truth Social post shared on Sunday, Aug. 30, calling her “unpopular” and stating that he plans to report her to the FCC, which is responsible for regulating communications across the country.

Trump said Welker, 50, will be reported to the agency “for rebuke or punishment” in the post, which was shared after the journalist said on a local news station that Trump has “had some mixed results” with political candidates he has endorsed.

“Kristen Welker, the Unpopular ‘Hostess’ of the once great Meet the Press, now considered Meet the Fake Press, just stated that Donald Trump has ‘mixed results’ on his Endorsements of Candidates, when the recent WINS of Darline Graham and Mike Mazzei, stand at 100% for the U.S. Senate, and 98% for the U.S. House, recently and over the longterm,” Trump wrote in the post. “How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves?”

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“Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment,” Trump wrote. “Unfortunately, she is not the only one. The Radical Left News is going out of their way to harass, demean, and libel anything ‘TRUMP.’ Their new weapon is to say that my 99% SUCCESS Rate on Endorsements, 100% on Senatorial Endorsements (Many of whom were not even given a shot of winning until I Endorsed!), is either a mixed result, or not very good. In actuality, it is, without question, the strongest Endorsement in the History of Politics.”

“If it were not, I would be the first to admit it,” the president added.

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Trump’s post attacking the Meet the Press moderator came after Welker shared predictions for the upcoming midterm elections on Washington, D.C., NBC affiliate WRC-TV.

“He’s going to loom large over these midterms. There’s no doubt about that,” Welker said of the president. “He, of course, has endorsed a slate of candidates in the primaries. He’s had some mixed results, but most recently, his pick of Senator Darline Graham, of course, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, was successful in her primary battle, so now she takes on Dr. Annie Andrews in South Carolina.”

Welker’s reporting echoes an NBC News report stating that Trump’s “near-sterling endorsement record this election cycle has taken a notable hit” this August, as six Republican candidates have lost their campaigns, including MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, who finished second in Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary.

South Carolina Sen. Darline Graham, the Trump-backed newcomer the president mentioned in his post attacking Welker, won the Republican primary runoff election on Tuesday, Aug. 25, securing a spot on the November general election ballot as she seeks to succeed her late brother in the Senate. Former Oklahoma Sen. Mazzei, who is also mentioned in the post, won Oklahoma’s GOP gubernatorial primary runoff election the same day with the help of Trump’s endorsement, per Politico.

On Sunday, Trump cited both victories in his post as evidence for the effectiveness of his endorsement before concluding the message, “The Press is a Disgrace to our Nation, and I hope that Chairman Brendan Carr, and the fine people of his Commission, will take this Threat to our Country very seriously. Thank you for your attention to this very important matter of Fake Polls and Commentary!”

Welker has not publicly commented on Trump’s Truth Social attack. In a statement shared with PEOPLE on Sunday, an NBC News spokesperson said: “Kristen is one of the best in the business, and we stand by her.”

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On its website, the FCC states that while it has a policy against “news distortion,” its authority to “take action on complaints about the accuracy or bias of news networks, stations, reporters or commentators in how they cover — or sometimes opt to not cover — events is narrow.”

Anyone can file a complaint with the FCC if they are “dissatisfied” with a broadcaster and want to report alleged distorted news, according to the website, though the agency states it “does not investigate claims of collateral inaccuracy in news reports or differences of opinion over the truth or validity of aspects of a news program.”

PEOPLE has reached out to the FCC for comment.

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Welker — who became moderator of Meet the Press in 2023 — made history as the first Black journalist to lead a Sunday public affairs program and only the second woman to moderate the long-running NBC show. She has covered Trump since his first presidential campaign and previously moderated the final 2020 presidential debate between Trump and former President Joe Biden.

Trump previously attacked Welker to her face, calling her “crooked” during a June Meet the Press interview before storming out.

Welker later told Vanity Fair that the president’s criticism did not catch her off guard, stating, “I’ve covered President Trump since 2015 when he was a candidate, and it doesn’t faze me at all. It’s part of the conversation. I anticipate it to some extent. I try to stay focused on the content of my questions and on getting answers.”

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