Furious at the media coverage devoted to the support he gives to candidates for the mid-term elections in November, Donald Trump announced on Sunday August 30 that he wanted to report a journalist from the NBC channel to the American communications authority (FCC).
“Kristen Welker, the unpopular ‘host’ of the once-prestigious show ‘Meet the Press,’ now called ‘Meet the Fake Press,’ has just claimed that Donald Trump has obtained ‘mixed results’ regarding his support for candidates,” the American president wrote on his Truth Social network.
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“As a result of this deliberate inaccuracy, it will be reported to the FCC for reprimand or sanction,” he added.
This new attack is part of the offensive led by the Trump administration against the media that it considers excessively critical.
The Republican billionaire has sued several newspapers and his administration, from the Pentagon to the FBI, is increasing restrictions and attempts at intimidation against journalists.
It relies in particular on the Federal Communications Commission, a government agency regulating numerous television channels and headed by Brendan Carr, a close friend of Donald Trump.
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These initiatives, however, face growing resistance from press groups and major audiovisual networks. Several of them have filed lawsuits against the FCC, believing that this pressure constitutes political retaliation contrary to the First Amendment of the American Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression.
Relations between Donald Trump and Kristen Welker had already been marked by several public skirmishes.
At the beginning of June, the American president abruptly cut short an interview given to the journalist after a tense exchange, in which he became annoyed by several questions from the presenter, particularly on Iran.
With AFP
