Trump Says NBC's Kristen Welker Will Be 'Reported to the FCC for Rebuke or Punishment' Over a Segment on His Endorsements

Trump wrote on social media Sunday that Kristen Welker, moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," would be "reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment" after she described his primary endorsement record as producing "mixed results." He asked how anyone could "be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves," and in a separate post complained about "fake polls," wrote that "something must be done about it" and added, "FCC to the rescue!" He closed by urging FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and his commission to take the matter seriously.

CNN described the posts as Trump's most explicit effort yet to direct the FCC against a journalist. The commission's own site states it cannot prevent the broadcast of any particular point of view, and its complaint process has no category for objecting to a news report; Carr has nonetheless opened license reviews and investigations touching ABC's parent Disney and NBC's parent Comcast.

Carr did not respond to CNN's request for comment. Commissioner Anna Gomez, the panel's lone Democrat, wrote that the FCC has no authority to punish journalists. NBC News said it stands by Welker; her characterization matched the network's reporting that six Trump-backed candidates lost primaries this month.