Kristen Welker brazenly and repeatedly lied in a bizarre, conspiracy-laden debate with former President Donald Trump on Sunday. The show was her first time as the permanent host of “Meet The Press,” previously hosted by Democrat activist Chuck Todd.
Welker interrupted her own pre-taped debate with the president to insert her own “fact checks” that were false or were not responsive to actual claims Trump made. For example, she falsely claimed there is no evidence President Biden had pressured Attorney General Merrick Garland to indict his primary political opponent, Trump. In fact, in addition to statements calling for efforts to prevent Trump from running, that pressure campaign was publicly laundered for all the world to see through The New York Times on April 2, 2022, in an article headlined “Garland Faces Growing Pressure as Jan. 6 Investigation Widens.” The article reported that Biden was extremely frustrated by Garland not having indicted Trump and, further, that Biden was telling people he wanted Trump prosecuted. The Times’ White House stenographers said Biden “wanted Mr. Garland to act less like a ponderous judge and more like a prosecutor who is willing to take decisive action.”
Trump noted in a response to Welker that Hunter Biden’s influence-peddling scandal implicates Biden, so Welker interrupted the pre-taped interview to insert a defense of Biden in which she responded to something Trump didn’t say. She claimed there was no evidence Biden personally benefited financially from his family’s influence-peddling scheme. But even if the point was relevant to what had been said, there is evidence — in the form of multiple texts from Hunter Biden claiming he pays his father’s bills. Those messages were found on the laptop Welker previously downplayed and ignored when she moderated a 2020 presidential debate.
Welker also pushed an absolutely insane conspiracy theory held by some activists on the left that Trump had wrestled a Secret Service agent in an armored vehicle on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump seemed taken aback that his debate partner either believed that outlandish story or pretended to believe it.
WELKER: So you dispute that account?
TRUMP: Dispute it? Who wouldn’t dispute it? She’s — the craziest account I’ve ever heard. You mean that I was in “The Beast,” and she said I was in “The Beast,” and the Secret Service didn’t want — so I took a guy who was like a black belt in karate and grabbed his neck and tried to choke him —
WELKER: What happened —
TRUMP: How ridiculous.
Welker also complained about the lack of a military crackdown on Jan. 6 rioters and falsely claimed that then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had nothing to do with preparing the Capitol for protests. In fact, security of the Capitol was one of her main jobs as speaker. The House sergeant at arms is the chief law enforcement officer for the site and serves under the speaker. Multiple law enforcement officials have criticized Pelosi for not acting on intelligence regarding the Jan. 6 protest. NPR reported that Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund made six requests of House and Senate security officials for National Guard troops but was denied. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also discouraged National Guard help.
Shocking Lies About Abortion
But none of that is as bad as Welker’s brazen lies about Democrats’ actual abortion agenda. Much of the interview was devoted to Welker pushing her own pro-abortion talking points. For example, her first question sounded like it could have been written by Planned Parenthood, in which she pushed the false pro-abortion claim that directly and intentionally killing an unborn child in the womb is sometimes medically necessary for women. “So my question for you, Mr. President, is: How is it acceptable in America that women’s lives are at risk, doctors are being forced to turn away patients in need, or risk breaking the law?”
TRUMP: So you have Roe v. Wade, for 52 years, people including Democrats wanted it to go back to states so the states could make the right. Roe v. Wade — I did something that nobody thought was possible, and Roe v. Wade was terminated, was put back to the states. Now, people, pro-lifers, have the right to negotiate for the first time. They had no rights at all, because the radical people on this are really the Democrats that say, after five months, six months, seven months, eight months, nine months, and even after birth you’re allowed to terminate the baby —
WELKER: Mr. President, Democrats aren’t saying that. I just have to, Democrats are not saying that.
Welker lied in her response. In fact, nearly every single elected Democrat supports forcing states to allow unborn children to be killed throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Given a choice of whether to vote for or against legislation requiring states to permit the killing of unborn children up to the moment of birth, nearly all elected Democrats vote enthusiastically for that.
It’s an extreme and radical position, but it’s one they hold, on the record. It is indisputable.
For example, on Feb. 28, 2022, only one Democrat senator voted no on a radical abortion bill. As Alexandra DeSanctis wrote, the bill “is an effort to ‘codify Roe,’ not only declaring abortion a fundamental right — for any reason, throughout all of pregnancy — but also nullifying any state law that prohibits or regulates abortion. The bill would forbid state laws protecting unborn children after they’re old enough to survive outside the womb. It would nullify bans on abortions chosen for discriminatory reasons, such as the unborn child’s sex or diagnosis with a disability. It would prohibit even the most modest regulations such as informed-consent laws, waiting periods, ultrasound requirements, and even safety standards for abortion clinics.”
It passed the Democrat House the previous year with only two Democrats voting against it. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, who for some time claimed to be pro-life, voted for the bill. That’s how much Democrats are embracing a radical pro-abortion agenda, contrary to Welker’s lies.
Guy Benson noted that the 2017-2018 Congress voted on a bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks, with exceptions. Roughly 97 percent of congressional Democrats voted against it. “Only 7 countries on earth allow barbaric abortions after 20 weeks. This is their official position, as a matter of record,” Benson wrote.
Laws protecting children who have reached 15 weeks’ gestation are popular. Corporate media, however, lie about the extremism of Democrats’ stated position in an effort to help them politically.
When Trump mentioned that in a 2016 debate he had called Hillary Clinton out for her support of abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, Welker falsely claimed Democrats do not support that. In fact, Clinton struggled to respond precisely because she does believe there should be no protection from abortion for any child for any reason at any point in pregnancy.
When Trump referenced that some Democrats even support having newborn children die, Welker claimed no Democrat supports that. In fact, that was a major issue in 2019 in Virginia. A Democrat delegate in the Virginia legislature named Kathy Tran pushed legislation allowing abortion even when a mother is delivering a baby, to which Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam said in support of the legislation that if such a situation were taking place, the baby would be delivered and allowed to die.
Welker lied about Democrats’ actual position on abortion at least four times in her debate with Trump. Her panel of analysts to discuss her debate with Trump included Laura Jarrett, the daughter of top Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, and two other left-wing journalists.
Trump’s Response
Trump’s response to the questions generated quite a bit of anger among supporters of Gov. Ron DeSantis and other pro-lifers — and rightly so. Trump was asked if he supported DeSantis’ signing of a heartbeat bill, passed by the Florida legislature. That bill protects children who have detectable heartbeats from being killed.
“I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” Trump said, part of his primary strategy of attacking DeSantis for everything, including his greatest policy achievements. Whether Trump was speaking morally or speaking politically, he was wrong. It is never a terrible thing to protect unborn children from having their lives violently ended. Thousands of babies’ lives have been saved via heartbeat laws. And if by “mistake,” he meant a political miscalculation, he’s wrong there as well.
Govs. Brian Kemp of Georgia, Bill Lee of Tennessee, Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Greg Abbott of Texas also signed abortion bans in the months leading up to their 2022 reelections, and all of them were reelected resoundingly. DeSantis won reelection by nearly 20 points.
When the Supreme Court finally overturned the unconstitutional Roe v. Wade decision, returning abortion law to the people, it meant that state and federal legislatures could once again decide abortion law. States such as California will enact radical pro-abortion laws while other states such as Florida, Ohio, Tennessee, and Georgia will be more in line with the rest of the developed world in allowing some protections for unborn children.
To say it’s a mistake for pro-life states to pass pro-life laws is simply wrong, both morally and politically.
The rest of Trump’s response was mostly about finding some ground between Democrats’ radical support of abortion through the moment of birth and a complete ban. While many pro-lifers want all unborn children and their mothers to be protected from the violence of abortion, there is a political argument for pointing out how radical Democrats’ position is and pushing for a compromise around 15 weeks, an extremely popular position with voters. Trump’s problem is that he seems to be resting on his laurels of being the first United States president to address the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and having appointed three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson decision. These are admittedly impressive laurels.
Trump’s 2016 election rested in large part on the support he received from pro-life voters. He served them well as president. But he should remember that the pro-life political movement didn’t end with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. In many ways, the Dobbs decision merely allowed that movement to begin to fight for state and federal laws that protect unborn children and their mothers. Trump should not take continued pro-life support for granted even as he pushes against a propaganda press and attempts to make known how radical and extreme Democrats are on abortion.
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