President Donald Trump is getting shredded online by liberal pundits and lawmakers alike after he stormed out of an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker that aired on Sunday.
“He went from orange to red,” Democratic Senator Pat Murray wrote on social media. “While the President’s tantrums are absurd, his delusions of voter fraud are dangerous. The President is an unhinged disgrace, and the American people deserve a Congress that will stand up to Trump’s lies, not enable them.”
Trump’s tirade played out on a pre-recorded episode of NBC’s “Meet the Press.” During their discussion, Trump insisted, as he frequently does, that the 2020 election was stolen, and further claimed that the recent California gubernatorial race was rigged.
No court has ever found evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Welker also pushed back and asked the president what evidence he had that voter fraud occurred in California.
Trump fumed at being questioned and jumped right to slinging insults.
“They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” Trump said.
Welker assured the president she isn’t crooked, but he pressed on.
“You play right into their hands with this stuff. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they’re rigged,” he said. “You’re a one-sided crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough.”
Trump left the interview but has, according to Welker, agreed to film a follow-up interview. He later told a crowd that he walked out because he had gotten angry that it was raining the day of the interview.
In the meantime, the president’s critics have been letting him know what they think of his performance.
“That is some wild, unhinged stuff from the President,” CNN’s Jake Tapper wrote. “Welker is a good person and honest journalist and didn’t deserve that but more importantly we have a president who constantly pushes conspiracy theories with zero evidence and can’t respond when politely challenged on that.”
Democratic Congressman Sean Casten said Trump’s actions were unacceptable for a man with his level of responsibility.
“This is the behavior of a toddler and an a**hole. It is disgusting coming from a full-grown man who has the responsibility to make life or death decisions with the best available facts in the course of representing all Americans,” he wrote.
Democratic Congresswoman Sarah McBridge said that Trump was an “insecure person.”
“He wilts under the slightest pressure and push back. It’s no wonder our adversaries don’t fear him,” she wrote on X.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
Republican lawmakers were largely quiet about Trump’s walkout, including those — like former Congresswoman Marjorie Talor Greene and regular presidential thorn Congressman Thomas Massie — who have become more vocally critical of his leadership.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who frequently trolls the president, jumped on the dogpile on his “Gavin Newsom Press Office” X account, saying the clip of Trump walking out is the “most severe case of California Derangement Syndrome we’ve ever seen.”
