NBC’s Kristen Welker’s stunned reaction when asked why network downplayed gunshots at Trump rally as simply ‘popping noises’
NBC reporter Kristen Welker seemed bewildered when asked during the Republican Party convention why the network dismissed gunshots at a Trump rally as “just popping noises.”
The network faced a lot of criticism following the breaking news and reports of the shooting in Pennsylvania, which stated that the former president was rushed from the stage “after popping sounds” were heard.
The New York station even appeared to describe the shots as “loud, crackling sounds.”
But Welker looked stunned when Turning Point USA reporter Savanah Hernandez confronted her about the editorial decision Monday night.
She then walked away with her crew, dodging Hernandez’s questions.
NBC reporter Kristen Welker was left open-mouthed when confronted with the network’s coverage of the shooting at a Trump rally on Monday night
Welker was led away by crew members and eventually left the room as Turning Point USA reporter Savanah Hernandez tried to ask her about the network’s decision to call the gunshots “booms.”
In a video posted to social media Monday evening, Hernandez can be seen approaching Welker in a hallway.
“Kristen, I have a question. When NBC reported that Trump was assassinated â attempted assassination â the initial report was of explosions. Do you want to respond to that?” she asked the Meet the Press moderator.
But as she spoke, Welker turned away from her and said, “I’m sorry.”
She was then led outside by several assistants, whereupon Hernandez turned the camera on himself.
âThis is Savanah Hernandez and this is actually Kristen Welker right behind me from NBC News, the exact same network that reported after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump that it was just ‘popping noises,’â she told her followers.
âKristen, do you want to say anything? No?â Hernandez pressed as Welker left the room.
In its final news report on Saturday night, NBC News reported that “popping noises that sounded like gunshots” were heard at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania
The New York department even appeared to describe the shots as “loud bangs”
She then tried asking other NBC crew members what they thought of the network’s reporting.
âDoes anyone from NBC want to comment on your poor reporting?â Hernandez asks as crew members walk past her.
‘Not at all? Okay.
“So that’s your mainstream media, ladies and gentlemen. And we have CNN here, we have MSNBC, we have NBC. So this week I’m really going to try to ask all of these media members what their reaction is to their networks and this lack of reporting,” she concludes her video.
Former President Donald Trump was punched in the ear during the rally before being led away from the scene by Secret Service agents
NBC News was ridiculed for its decision to refer to the gunshots as “pops” after the fact
In NBC’s latest news reports on the shooting at Trump’s rally, headlines said “popping noises were heard that sounded like gunfire.”
But then presenter Jose Diaz-Balart finally came on TV, He did say that it “appears as if shots were fired and Donald Trump was injured.”
Still, the network was ridiculed by many online for trivializing the shooting.
âImagine being the news channel reporting âfirecrackersâ when you clearly hear gunshots,â Steven Berube said in the networkâs livestream.
âIf this was Biden, the country would be in lockdown right now,â he claimed.
âThis is exactly why even Democrats are fed up with their own party.â
CNN also drew criticism for describing Trump as âfallingâ from the stage, without referring to the stage, without referring to the assassination attempt.
An X user also expressed disbelief at NBC’s decision to call the gunshots “bangs.”
‘Assassination attempt wounds President Trump in the ear with a gunshot! All “popping sounds???”‘ he wrote, before calling on others to ‘BAN NBC NEWS!’
âWhy would anyone watch their propaganda?â he asked.
DailyMail.com has contacted NBC News for comment on the editorial decision.
But NBC wasn’t the only outlet to face criticism for its coverage of the shooting.
CNN also drew criticism for describing Trump as âfallingâ from the stage without referring to the stage and without mentioning the assassination attempt.
It also drew backlash when CNN correspondent Jamie Gangel noted that Trump stood up and said âfight, fight, fightâ in the seconds after he was shot.
“What we’re hearing from people is that this is not the message we want to send right now. We want to tone down the message,” Gangel said of the backlash.
Former President Donald Trump Jr.’s son responded: “Someone tried to kill my father tonight, and that’s what CNN is focused on.
“These people are mean.”
Critics also lashed out at The New York Times for the op-ed and headline about the shooting
In addition, The New York Times was criticized for publishing an op-ed titled âDonald Trump is unfit to lead,â urging voters to âreject him in Novemberâ on the morning after the shooting.
The title page shows a menacing silhouette of Trump’s side profile, backlit. It also reads: ‘He failed the tests of leadership and betrayed America.’
Others criticized The Gray Lady for its headline that morning: âTrump Wounded, But Safe, After Shooting,â which presented the atrocity in the mildest possible light.
Some even pointed out that the newspaper had cut out the American flag that was flying above Trump, a photo of him raising a fist in the air and blood running down his face, moments after being hit in the right ear by a bullet.
Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, PA, fired multiple rounds from a rooftop, including one that struck Trump in the ear. It happened just days before the former president was set to accept the 2024 Republican nomination.
Crooks, a registered Republican who donated $15 to the liberal political action committee ActBlue on Biden’s 2021 Inauguration Day, killed former Fire Chief Corey Comperatore and wounded two other people before police shot him.
The Biden administration sent the president back to the White House from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, immediately after the shooting. He condemned the shooting of X.