Trump storms out of ‘Meet the Press’ interview after ‘crooked’ election claims
· Toronto Sun
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U.S. President Donald Trump sat down for an interview with Meet the Press ’ Kristen Welker on Sunday, but he didn’t sit for long.
Things quickly became heated between the two when she asked him about claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged after he shared his suspicions that the votes in California’s current elections are being inaccurately tallied.
During the NBC News interview, which was conducted Friday and aired on Sunday, Trump defended his recently announced nearly $1.8-billion “anti-weaponization fund,” that would compensate people who believe they were wrongly targeted by the Biden administration — which includes those who were arrested for taking part in the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.
The Justice Department, however, put the kibosh on that late last month and said that the fund, part of a deal to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS, would not be moving forward .
Show me the evidence
“As I understand it, the weaponization fund was going to set up a group of people, people that could be picked by anybody, fair people, smart people, and they will go on an individual case basis,” Trump explained to Welker.
“Now I don’t know what’s going to happen with the weaponization fund,” he continued. “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.”
Welker noted that there has been “no evidence” presented to support Trump’s claims, and then tried to ask a question about acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who’d made the announcement that the anti-weaponization fund would not be moving forward before the president interjected.
‘Crooked’ California
“Listen to me. There’s tremendous evidence. There’s nothing but evidence,” he said. “The election was rigged. It was a dirty election, and it’s happening again right now in California. It’s happening right now in California, right now. Look at what’s happening in California.”
Welker asked her to elaborate, noting the lack of evidence in his claims, to which he brought up that despite it being several days since the election there, many races are still undecided due to California’s policy of allowing ballots to be mailed in up until election day.
“The Republicans are doing well in California,” Welker pointed out, to which Trump argued, “No, they’re not. They’re dropping fast because it’s a rigged election.”
He added: “Let me tell you, it’s four days and they aren’t even close.”
As for the state’s slow process, Trump said, “You know why they’re doing that? Because they’re cheating on the election.”
However, when Welker asked for evidence, the president’s response was, “All I have to do is look. All I have to do is look and I listen, and I listen to people and let’s see what happens.”
Current polls have forecast a tight race between the Democratic frontrunner Xavier Becerra, who has advanced to the general November election, and Republican politician Steve Hilton.
Trump later accused California again of being shady.
“They’re crooked, just like you’re crooked. Your press is crooked and Meet the Press is crooked.”
Welker replied: “To be fair, I’m not crooked, but let’s —” before he interrupted her.
“Really? Well, you play right into their hands then. You’re either crooked or you’re stupid,” Trump fired back.
“You play right into their hands with this crap. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they’re rigged. You know that I won an election in a landslide, and I got 94 per cent bad press. You know why? Because you have no credibility.”
Aaaaaaaand, we’re done
The two continued their back-and-forth dance, with Trump voicing his accusations and Welker asking for proof.
“Your elections are crooked and you’re crooked and Meet the Press is crooked, and so is ABC and CBS and CNN. You’re one-sided crooked networks,” he said before shutting down the interview.
“Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling,” he added, as he removed his microphone.
My interview with President Trump on Friday afternoon was unfortunately complicated by weather issues. In spite of those challenges, we still had a substantial conversation on issues from the Iran war to the economy to the so-called “anti-weaponization” fund. Tune in for the full… pic.twitter.com/zjYCVOZiCF
— Kristen Welker (@kwelkernbc) June 7, 2026
Welker asked him to stay, noting that she had travelled to Wisconsin for the sit-down.
He shot back that they had done the entire interview in the rain, which could be heard in the background throughout much of their heated conversation.
“I’ve given you enough time,” he said. “You ought to straighten out your press because you know what, a country can never be great with a dishonest press.”
On Sunday, Welker told viewers that she had spoken with Trump on Saturday about the weather disruptions and that he had agreed to give her another interview.