'Twisted' Trump called out for chilling attack on Meet the Press host: 'Brazen nonsense'

President Donald Trump used his social media platform Sunday to call for federal regulatory action against an NBC News anchor and against pollsters he accused of publishing inaccurate approval numbers.

Brendan Carr, the Project 2025 co-author who Trump tapped to lead the Federal Communications Commission, has blatantly used his post to advance the White House's interests, and MS NOW's Steve Benen said the president's threats against "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker show he plans to exploit that loyalty to punish his enemies.

Trump criticized Welker in a Truth Social post Sunday, referring to her as "the Unpopular 'Hostess' of 'Meet the Press'" after she remarked, during a segment on a local NBC affiliate rather than the network's flagship program, that his record endorsing candidates in the 2026 midterms has been mixed.

"How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves?" Trump wrote, adding that Welker "will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment" and calling on FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to treat the matter as "a Threat to our Country."

In a separate post the same morning, Trump wrote in all capital letters that "the fake polls used by our crooked media are out of control, and something must be done about it," adding, "FCC to the rescue!" The post came five days after Trump alleged, without evidence, that major independent polling organizations were coordinating with Democratic officials to discourage Republican voters, according to earlier reporting.

"It's genuinely difficult to know where to start with such brazen nonsense, but let's begin with the fact that Trump's endorsement record really is mixed, whether this accurate observation hurts the president's feelings or not," Benen wrote.

Carr, a co-author of the Project 2025 policy blueprint, was appointed by Trump to lead the FCC and has previously taken actions favorable to the administration's interests regarding broadcast media. It remains unclear whether the FCC will pursue any formal action in response to Trump's posts.

The posts echo a similar call Trump made in May 2025, when he urged an investigation into pollsters he accused of election-related misconduct, directing his complaint at the time toward the Federal Election Commission rather than the FCC. No such investigation followed.

Independent tallies show Trump's 2026 primary endorsements producing a mix of wins and losses across several state races, a record consistent with the assessment Welker cited on air.

"Time will tell whether Carr and his colleagues take the president's directives seriously, but let's not miss the forest for the trees," Benen wrote. "Confronted with data showing his broad unpopularity, Trump can either (a) change course; (b) accept the fact that his presidency lacks public support; or (c) pursue investigations into journalists and independent entities that have dared to present him with information he doesn't want to see or hear."

"The fact that he's choosing door No. 3 isn't surprising," the analyst concluded, "but it does offer a timely reminder about his twisted perspective."