MS NOW’s Peter Alexander blasted President Donald Trump on air on Monday, saying, “The truth is still the truth, and you deserve to know it, whether a president likes it or not.”
Alexander’s remark came after Trump attacked the journalist’s former colleague, Meet the Press host Kristen Welker.
On Sunday, Welker said on D.C.’s local NBC station that there had been “mixed results” for Trump’s endorsed candidates.
After her comments, Trump went on a Truth Social tirade, describing Welker as the “Unpopular ‘Hostess’ of the once great Meet the Press.”
He said her comments were a “Threat to our Country” and that “Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment.”
“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,” Trump wrote.
While the 80-year-old has a strong record in Republican primaries this year, his record is not perfect, with more than a dozen of his chosen candidates losing their races.
On Monday’s State of Play, Alexander described Trump’s response as “rage posting” and said the president was “furious over the facts”.
Alexander and Welker were co-workers for more than 15 years at NBC News. He said Welker was “one of the hardest-working and best-sourced reporters around.”
NBC News also defended Welker, saying, “Kristen is one of the best in the business and we stand by her.”
Alexander added that what should be “more concerning” than Trump’s comments was that the president was “again threatening to use the levers of government to crack down on reporting that he does not like.”
“The goal, it appears, is to have a chilling effect, to intimidate, to threaten, to bully journalists, and to undermine the truth.”
Alexander continued, “The point is this: The work still matters. The truth is still the truth, and you deserve to know it, whether a president likes it or not.”
