President Donald Trump ripped into national media outlets, yanked off his microphone and stomped on it before abruptly ending a taped interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” after a heated exchange over California election claims.
The interview with host Kristen Welker began with questions about California’s vote-counting process, where election officials were still tabulating ballots several days after Election Day. Trump argued the delay was evidence of wrongdoing.
“Right now, look at what’s happening in California. It’s four days and they aren’t even close to coming up with [a winner], you know why they’re doing it? Because they’re cheating on the election,” Trump said.
When Welker asked whether he had evidence to support the allegation, Trump replied: “All I have to do is look. All I have to do is look. And I listen. And I listen to people.”
Welker responded that listening to people was “not evidence” and noted California election officials have long acknowledged the state’s vote-counting process takes longer because of mail ballots, signature verification and provisional ballots.
Trump then pivoted to complaints about media coverage and renewed claims surrounding the 2020 election.
“You know that I won an election in a landslide and I got 94% bad press,” Trump said before escalating his criticism of national news organizations.
“Your elections in this country, we’re like a third-world country. Your elections are crooked. And you’re crooked. And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked. And so is ABC and CBS and CNN. You’re a one-sided crooked network,” Trump said.
As Welker attempted to continue the interview and change topics, Trump cut her off.
“Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough,” Trump said.
According to video of the exchange, Trump then yanked off his lavalier microphone, dropped it to the ground and stomped on it before walking off set. Welker responded: “I traveled all the way to Wisconsin for this interview.”
The confrontation marked another public clash between Trump and major news organizations, which he frequently accuses of bias. Trump has repeatedly alleged widespread election fraud without presenting evidence sufficient to substantiate claims of a rigged election. Courts rejected numerous legal challenges following the 2020 presidential election.
California election officials have long said the state’s slower vote-counting process reflects ballot verification procedures and the volume of mailed ballots, not evidence of fraud.
