President Donald Trump broke off an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday after host Kristen Welker challenged his false claims about elections and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough,” he said after a tense exchange lasting about four minutes. “Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”
He then stood up and walked off the set in a barn in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, taped before an event focused on farmers that Trump held there Friday.
An NBC spokesperson declined to comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump appeared to become agitated when Welker asked him about the $1.8 billion fund he has sought to pay people claiming they were victims of politicized prosecutions. The Justice Department agreed to set up the fund to settle the president’s lawsuit against the IRS, but officials backed off amid court challenges and pushback from Republican senators.
The president said on “Meet the Press” that he still wanted to establish the fund.
“If it was up to me, I’d pay them the kind of money that they deserve,” he said. “If they get it approved, that’s great. If they don’t get it approved, I’d be disappointed.”
Welker pressed Trump specifically on whether the 172 people who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6 attack would be eligible for money. Trump declined to rule it out, arguing that FBI agents invited the rioters inside the Capitol and that people pleaded guilty only because they were afraid of harsher sentences.
Welker pointed out that there is no evidence of FBI agents ushering rioters inside the Capitol. The Justice Department’s inspector general found that four FBI informants entered the building, but not at officials’ direction, and no on-duty agents were on the Capitol grounds that day until some responded to help subdue the riot.
“The people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization,” Trump said. “Many of those people should be compensated.”
Trump then alleged that the 2020 presidential election and last week’s California primary were “rigged.” Welker said there was no evidence to support those claims, either.
Trump said taking days to finish counting ballots, which continues in California following Tuesday’s primary, proved his assertion. Under California law, mail ballots postmarked by Election Day can still be accepted for up to a week.
“All I have to do is look,” Trump said.
“But that’s not evidence,” Welker said.
Trump then turned to attacking NBC and other networks before unclipping his microphone, standing up and walking away.
Heavy rain pounding on the barn’s metal roof was audible throughout the interview, which lasted about 50 minutes. Trump acknowledged the argument when he appeared at the farmers roundtable immediately after the interview was taped, attributing his irritation to the weather.
“Because it was raining, I got a little bit angry at them,” he said Friday. “I was not happy with them. But we had a good time.”