President Trump shut down an interview with NBC News after host Kristen Welker pushed back on his claims that the election in California on Tuesday was rigged.
During a lengthy interview in Wisconsin that aired on “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Trump echoed claims he made in recent days that officials in California were “cheating,” because after four days, they “aren’t even close” to finishing the count.
With more than 70% of the vote in on Sunday, veteran Democratic politician Xavier Becerra was about a percentage point ahead of Republican Steve Hilton in the governor’s race. In the Los Angeles mayoral race, the gap between former reality TV personality Spencer Pratt and City Councilmember Nithya Raman also narrowed to a percentage point.
“Do you have evidence to support that?” Welker asked Trump about his cheating claims.
“All I have to do is look,” he said.
“But sir, that’s not evidence. That’s how they count the votes in California,” Welker said. She added that state and local officials acknowledge the they are slow.
“No, they’re crooked … just like you’re crooked. Your press is crooked and ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” Trump said.
“You’re either crooked or you’re stupid,” he went on. “You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they’re rigged.”
The back-and-forth continued until Trump decided to “call it quits.”
“I’ve had enough,” he said, removing the microphone from his lapel and tossing it to the floor. “Thank you, darling, have a good time.”
As Welker tried to convince him to finish the interview, he added: “A country can never be great with a dishonest press.”
And eventually he walked off.
A misreading of voting data in the Los Angeles mayoral race late on election night has fueled the false narrative that Trump and other Republicans have pushed in recent days that California Democrats were cheating. The claim was that in one vote count update, one candidate received zero votes. First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said on X that the claim was false, and “each candidate received votes in every update.”
Essayli has confirmed on X that his office “has multiple election fraud investigations underway,” in coordination with the FBI in Los Angeles.
In another post, he asked witnesses to come forward: “We want to hear from you,” Essayli posted. “Please do not send rumors, theories, or second-hand information.”
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