We all knew the interview with Trump for her debut as the host of Meet the Press was going to be bad, which it was, but that didn't stop beltway transcriptionist Peter Baker from defending the debacle and circling the wagons around his colleague Kristen Welker.
Kristen acknowledged the criticism for giving this dangerous compulsive liar any airtime, but cued him up with a reason to cut her some slack:
KRISTEN WELKER: Fantastic new reporting there. Big picture, Peter Baker. I'm giving the final word to you. We have gotten criticism for just sitting down with former President Trump. He is the former president, he's facing four indictments. As journalists, just set this scene, the backdrop why there is still news value, and value for the public to hear from him.
PETER BAKER: Well, this is a huge challenge for American journalism, of course, right? It cannot be that a person can run for president of the United States, be a front-runner of his party, and possibly win without ever being challenged by a tough, independent interview. And that's, I think, an important part of our system. Now, it's obviously a challenge for us because he is just going to spout out one thing after another, and fact-checking him in real time is a real hard thing. But what we've done here is edit it and make sure people understand he’s – what's real and what's not.
The response to Baker was just as harsh as a lot of the criticism the show received for booking Trump in the first place.
Yes they did, and don't expect it to get any better with Welker at the helm. She's as bad as Chuck Todd or worse.
