Evidence, please: The question that caused a Trump meltdown
This is exactly what journalists should do
NBC’s Kristen Welker just delivered a master class in presidential interviewing.
Sunday’s “Meet the Press” interview with Donald Trump showed exactly how journalists should handle a president who bullies, insults, deflects, and refuses to substantiate his claims.
It’s unfortunate that this has become necessary. For most of American history, presidents and journalists generally engaged one another with a measure of mutual respect. Reporters asked tough questions, presidents answered them, and the public benefited from the exchange.
Trump changes the equation.
If you haven’t seen Welker’s interview, it’s worth a watch on NBC News’ website. Fast forward to about the 34:00 mark to see where the interview goes off the rails, and Trump ultimately storms out. It only runs about 3:00 from there to the end.
Welker asks Trump about his proposed anti-weaponization fund and whether January 6 rioters who assaulted police officers should receive compensation. As the discussion unfolds, Trump claims that the rioters were mistreated and then pivots to familiar allegations that the 2020 election was rigged and that this week’s California election is corrupt.
Welker responds with a simple challenge: Where is the evidence?
Trump says, “There’s tremendous evidence. There’s nothing but evidence.”
Welker keeps asking him for evidence of his accusations, and all Trump can say is, “there’s evidence.”
Repeatedly saying “there’s evidence” is NOT evidence! And Welker rightly stood her ground, demanding that he back up his statement.
Welker: “Do you have evidence to support that?”
Trump: “All I have to do is look.”
Welker: “But that’s not evidence.”
The interview then devolves, because when people stand up to Trump, especially women, he goes into insult, bully mode.
Trump: “They’re crooked just like you’re crooked. The press is crooked. And Meet the Press is crooked.”
Welker: “To be fair, I’m not crooked. But let’s continue.”
Trump: “You’re either crooked or you’re stupid.”
He continues, “You’re a one-sided crooked network. Sorry, let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”
Trump takes off his lav mike, drops it on the floor and as he stands to leave, he steps right on the microphone, which makes a “crunch” sound as he lumbers off, like a bull in a china shop.
The adult in the room
I wanted to stand and cheer because finally, finally, a journalist did exactly what all journalists should do when any politician spews nonsense.
Too often, interviews become scripted exercises in which reporters ask questions and politicians deliver talking points. The audience learns little because no one follows up when an answer is evasive, misleading, or unsupported. Welker did the opposite. She listened carefully, identified unsupported claims, and kept pressing until it became clear that Trump could not back them up.
Trump can dish it out, but he is a thin-skinned bully. He’s used to people kowtowing to him and he doesn’t like it when someone stands up to his BS. Especially a woman.
And who says, “Thank you, darling?” It’s like something out of a 1950’s Dean Martin movie.
To be clear, I am not advocating for journalists to be rude when conducting interviews. But with Trump, it’s way past time that responsible journalists stand up to him and not let him propagandize to his heart’s content. Welker handled it perfectly. She was neither too timid nor did she lose control of herself. She was polite, but insistent.
In that moment, she was the adult in the room.
Trump, meanwhile, reacted exactly as bullies do when challenged. He lashed out, then walked away.
Tragically, there are more than two years remaining in this presidency. Maybe voters will come to their senses and start to rein him in during the mid-terms this fall. The country would benefit from more journalists following Welker’s example - listening closely, demanding evidence, and refusing to let political theater substitute for accountability.
On a related note, Trump attacked CNN’s Kaitlin Collins again this week. Trump was answering another reporter’s question when he lashed out at CNN and Collins.
“But with a corrupt reporter standing right there, never smiles,” he said, according to The Hill. “You never see a young, beautiful woman who never smiles. I never see a smile on her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes.”
She hadn’t even asked the question!
Later, when Collins tried to ask a question, Trump told her to “be quiet.”
Is there any CEO in America who could get away with calling a woman “stupid” or telling her she has “hatred in her eyes” and to “be quiet”? He’d be rung up on hostile work environment allegations and likely shown the door.
And if this is how he treats women in public, I hate to think what he does behind closed doors. Such a petty, small man.
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Thank you Dave for another great article.
Three cheers and thank you Kristen Welker and Kaitlin Collins. We can say thank you to Pope Leo XIV, from a different perspective.
I wish we could say thank you to Iowa’s six Federal politicians. But lapdogs don’t speak up, they just bark and whine.
Add this to the never ending list of aberrant, unimaginable corrupt and disgusting behavior from a man who should have been impeached by a party whose members include Iowa’s two senators. Aren’t we proud of the character of our two elected officials!