Trump creates new headache for GOP with call for FCC to crack down on NBC, Welker

President Trump’s call on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to crack down on NBC’s “Meet the Press” after host Kristen Welker said the president has a “mixed record” on endorsements this year is a new political headache for GOP lawmakers and candidates.

Republicans weathered a public backlash last year when the FCC threatened it could pursue “remedies” if ABC didn’t punish late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after he quipped that the “kid who killed Charlie Kirk” was a member of the “MAGA gang.”

Some political experts say Trump is putting Republicans in a tough position by calling on the FCC to punish Welker — one of the highest profile journalists in Washington — over comments that appeared to be an editorial assessment of Trump’s record.

“It’s complete overreach on Trump’s part. People comment on politicians all the time and he just seems to go after anybody who disagrees with him,” said Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s governance studies program.

“The public is tired of Trump’s revenge tour against anybody who disagrees with him. It’s hard to know how the FCC will respond, but the law clearly protects freedom of expression so if the FCC does punish NBC, I would expect there to be litigation,” he said.

While GOP lawmakers agreed that Kimmel’s comments crossed the line, they warned that pursuing regulatory penalties against a major broadcast network because of the controversial comments of a comedian risked regulating speech.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, warned a year ago that FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s threat to take action against ABC sounded like something “right out of Goodfellas” — the classic mob movie — and “dangerous as hell.”

The Walt Disney Company and ABC last month filed a lawsuit against the FCC, arguing that the Trump administration violated its rights by launching an early review of its broadcast licenses in response to its content.

The FCC ordered the review amid an investigation into Disney about its diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Now Trump has threatened to reanimate that controversy by calling on the FCC to rebuke or punish Welker after she claimed he had a “mixed record” in picking GOP primary winners, even though Trump has compiled a 96 percent winning record in primaries this year, according to Ballotpedia.

Trump said Welker “will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment” because of what he called her “purposeful inaccuracy.”

“The Press is a Disgrace to our Nation, and I hope that Chairman Brendan Carr, and the fine people of his Commission, will take this Threat to our Country very seriously,” he wrote on Truth Social.

NBC has backed up its star Sunday morning host.

GOP strategists say Trump still has a strong grip on the Republican Party, but they warn it is slipping and they fear his poor numbers with independent voters could rub off on Republican incumbents running in swing states, even those that are GOP-leaning swing states.

“He’s losing it a little bit when he picks really flawed people,” said a Republican strategist, who requested anonymity to discuss Trump’s support of several Republicans who lost in this year’s gubernatorial primaries.

While Trump boasts a 100 percent record picking winners in Senate Republican primary contests this election cycle, several of his high-profile gubernatorial picks have lost.

They include Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), MyPillow founder Mike Lindell and South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.

In House Republican primaries, GOP candidate Catalina Lauf and Rep. Cory Mills (Fla.) lost in Florida, while Republican challenger Amir Hassan lost in Michigan’s 8th District and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) lost in Tennessee’s 5th District.

The GOP strategist argued Lindell and Ogles are flawed candidates that Trump couldn’t carry over the finish line, while the source praised Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.), who won her primary runoff with Trump’s backing, as a more “normal” candidate.

The Republican strategist said Trump is courting another major controversy right before the election by calling on the FCC to punish NBC because of Welker’s statement, which she made during a promotional appearance on NBC’s local Washington, D.C., affiliate.

“If Brendan were to do anything, that would be a bridge too far. It would clearly be illegal and he’d be slapped down by a court as soon as the opportunity arose,” the strategist warned.

The FCC’s website states that it has limited power under the First Amendment to restrict or ban speech and that the Communications Act states the commission does not have the power to interfere with the right of free speech by means of broadcast communication.

Trump’s outburst against Welker, however, has put more of a spotlight on his slipping poll numbers with GOP voters. While the president remains very popular with Republicans, his numbers have come down since the start of his second term.

Whit Ayres, a prominent Republican pollster, said Trump’s numbers are softening with GOP voters but are still strong enough to help candidates in competitive primaries.

“The president’s endorsement in Republican primaries is still a very powerful element,” he said.

But Trump’s popularity with Republicans has been tested by broad public dissatisfaction over costs and the war with Iran, which has dragged on for six months.

“It’s down from sky-high levels to only high levels,” Ayres said of Trump’s poll numbers with Republicans.

“The challenge is his rating in a general election electorate, not a Republican primary,” he added.

A new University of Massachusetts Amherst poll conducted of a thousand respondents across the country from Aug. 21-26 found that 4 in 5 Americans say that food and gas prices have increased under Trump and two-thirds of U.S. adults disapprove of his handling of the Iran war.

The poll found that 27 percent of Republican respondents said Trump has performed somewhat or much worse than they expected.

Trump, however, flexed his political muscle in GOP primaries earlier this year when he backed challengers who defeated high-profile Republican incumbents — including GOP Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky, and Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana and John Cornyn in Texas.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and other GOP senators had lobbied Trump to back Cornyn over Ken Paxton, the Lone Star State’s attorney general, who is now trailing in polls to Texas state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic candidate.

Paxton told Fox News’s “The Sunday Briefing” that his own polls show him performing better against Talarico but acknowledged “we definitely have a close race.”

Talarico leads by an average of nearly 2 percentage points, according to a compilation of recent polls by RealClearPolitics.

Trump on Sunday touted his endorsement as “without question, the strongest Endorsement in the History of Politics.”

He cited his support for Graham in the South Carolina Senate race and candidate Mike Mazzei in the Republican gubernatorial primary in Oklahoma. Mazzei, a businessman, narrowly beat Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.