Kristen Welker’s disastrous Meet The Press tenure has somehow managed to get even worse
When Kristen Welker kicked off her tenure as host of Meet The Press by doing a fawning softball interview with Donald Trump, it was clear that it was never going to get any better. What’s stunning is that it’s somehow managed to get even worse.
Today Kristen Welker put House Republican Elise Stefanik on the air, and Stefanik proceeded to portray the January 6th attackers as political prisoners. Welker didn’t bother to push back at all. Stefanik also refused to say whether or not she’d vote to certify the 2024 election results, and Welker continued to let Stefanik get away with it.
Kristen Welker is pathetic, but this isn’t simply weakness on her part. This is what NBC News wants out of Meet The Press. While audiences saw Chuck Todd as a failure because he was timid and let Republicans tell lies, the network saw him as a success because so many people hate-watched him that his ratings were through the roof.
Welker is clearly taking the same approach as Todd. We won’t be able to get rid of her until we all stop watching Meet The Press (that includes hate-watching), and until we all make NBC understand that this isn’t what we want out of a Meet The Press host. Until then, Welker and NBC will continue to harm the public discourse.
