Biden campaign co-chair Mitch Landrieu stopped and corrected Meet The Press’ Kristen Welker multiple times as she pushed Republican talking points on the Hur report.
What did Kristen Welker say?
Landrieu said, “Unlike President Trump, who has 91 criminal charges pending against him, and by the way, in all the depositions that President Trump has given in those cases, it says he doesn’t remember or doesn’t knows for a thousand times. So there is a question whether the president remembered or not. The year his son died and therefore is ineligible to become president. It’s really sad, below the belt and useless.
Welker got into Republican talking points: “Well, just to be very clear, the report doesn’t say he wasn’t involved in any wrongdoing. In fact, he was quite convinced that he had mishandled classified documents. He simply hasn’t been indicted and criminally charged, but let me follow you. Documents found in the president’s office.”
Landrieu stopped Welker: “Wait, wait, no, Kristen, wait, let me. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You can’t no, no, no. I will not. He will not accept this premise. As part of an investigation, a special counsel determines, based on the facts and the law, whether someone is involved in criminal acts. And he found out that the president did. In fact, he is the only special prosecutor engaged in this type of activity who has had to say that he could not indict someone. And this is a fact. And so this is the great result of this relationship from a legal point of view.”
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Welker backtracked and attempted another lie: “From a legal standpoint, that’s absolutely right. He said he would not indict him. But let me ask this question. Because he didn’t have the law of facts to do so. Right. Well, right. But he said the classified documents were mishandled. And he said national security could have been jeopardized.”
Landrieu stopped her again: “But let me ask you something, because on the documents, but Kristen, it doesn’t say national security. No ma’am. I am sorry. You didn’t say national security. was compromised and you, you just heard from the Secretary of Homeland Security, but, but he wasn’t. And the facts and the law suggest that the president was not involved in criminal activity to distinguish the former president, who right now has 91 criminal charges pending against him in four different cases. So let’s keep the facts right. And let’s not make false comparisons between the two, which unfortunately people do a lot these days.”
Video:
Oh. Mitch Landrieu harshly pushes back Kristen Welker after Welker suggested Biden endangered national security.
“Let’s keep the facts correct and not make false comparisons with each other [Biden and Trump]which unfortunately people do a lot these days. pic.twitter.com/GoZiGysqmb
—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 11, 2024
The exchange raises the question of whether Welker read the report, or whether she thought she was being “fair” by asking Landrieu about Republican claims about the Hur report without identifying that she was pushing Republican talking points.
Landrieu caught Welker making false comparisons between Biden and Trump, and silenced her with facts.
Welker left out the fact that the Hur report noted differences between the Trump and Biden cases and emphasized that Biden was not involved in criminal activity.
Kristen Welker was finally called out for embracing the Republican point of view on Meet The Press.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
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