Trump Storms Out of NBC Interview, Fails to Back Election Fraud Claims

President Trump stormed out of an NBC News interview in Wisconsin, unable to substantiate his claims of election fraud. The confrontation escalated when he was pressed for evidence regarding his assertions about the 2020 election and ongoing fraud in California's primaries.

During the taped interview with NBC's Kristen Welker, which aired Sunday, the president faced tough questions about his allegations. California's election system, notorious for its slow counting process due to mail-in ballots, has left gubernatorial and mayoral races undecided nearly a week after the primaries. State officials confirmed that counting millions of mail-in ballots can take days or even weeks.

Trump claimed the delays were due to "cheating" in the election. When Welker demanded evidence, he responded, "All I have to do is look," failing to provide any concrete support for his claims. Welker countered, stating, "But that's not evidence."

In a heated exchange, Trump accused Welker of being "crooked or stupid," insisting there was "more evidence than ever presented" that the 2020 election was rigged. Welker pointed out that Trump and his allies had only won one minor case out of 62 related to their election claims, prompting him to label her and NBC as "crooked," extending the same sentiment to ABC, CBS, and CNN.

"You're a one-sided crooked network," Trump declared. "Sorry. Let's call it quits because I've had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time."

Despite Welker's attempts to keep him on camera, Trump walked off, leaving the interview abruptly.

The California election system's slow pace is well-known, with experts warning it could take significant time to finalize vote counts. California Governor Gavin Newsom had anticipated this delay and previously urged county officials to expedite the process to combat unfounded conspiracy theories regarding election integrity.

"California really cares about counting its ballots," stated Christian Grose, a political science professor at USC. "And so as a result, we have a lot of different ways to vote."

Trump-nominated first assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced over the weekend that his office has initiated "multiple election fraud investigations," alleging serious structural vulnerabilities within California's voting system. His office is currently working on auditing the state's voter rolls.

Trump defended using funds from the "anti-weaponization fund" established during his administration to compensate January 6 rioters, reiterating his belief that the 2020 election was "rigged." Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the Trump administration is "not moving forward" with the fund but did not provide a written commitment.

When asked if individuals convicted of assaulting police officers should receive payouts from the fund, Trump replied, "I wouldn't be inclined to say so, but I have to see it."

In the same interview aired on "Meet the Press," Trump claimed he never promised to avoid new wars. "First of all, I didn't guarantee no war," he told Welker. "Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?"

However, on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly vowed to "expel the warmongers from our government" and suggested there would be no new wars during his presidency.

"I'm going to keep you out of wars, I kept you out of wars," he asserted at a July 24, 2024 campaign rally.

In his November 2024 victory speech, he proclaimed, "We had no wars. Four years, we had no wars. Except we defeated ISIS. We defeated ISIS in record time. But we had no wars. They said, 'He will start a war.' I'm not going to start a war, I'm going to stop wars."

This NBC interview marks yet another instance where Trump has abruptly ended an interview when faced with challenging questions.

In October 2020, he walked out of a "60 Minutes" interview with CBS News' Lesley Stahl over complaints about tough questions. In January 2022, he cut short an NPR interview when confronted about his 2020 election claims.

NBC News published a full transcript of the interview.