Trump Cuts Interview Short Over Comments on California Election
During an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” President Trump abruptly ended the conversation following remarks made by reporter Kristen Welker regarding the California election and the ongoing 2020 presidential race.
Welker confronted Trump about his assertions that the voting process in California was taking too long and involved fraud, particularly after delays were noted in counting mail-in ballots for Democratic candidates.
“That’s just how we vote in California,” Welker asserted, after Trump pointed to the slow vote count as proof of suspicious activity.
This tense moment unfolded as Trump reiterated his long-held concerns about election integrity while discussing the California primary. The interaction intensified, leading Trump to accuse the network of bias before he walked out of the interview.
“Now it’s happening again in California,” Trump stated, referring to the state’s ongoing vote-counting issues. “This is what’s happening right now. For four days.”
He highlighted several competitive races in California that remain unresolved as election officials continue their work.
Particularly notable is the contest to replace term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom.
In early returns, Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra had 27.0% of the votes counted, with approximately 6.7 million ballots in—a figure representing about 71% of the expected voter turnout. Just behind him was Republican Steve Hilton at 26.1%, followed by Democrat Tom Steyer with 21.3%.
The Los Angeles mayoral race is also tightly contested.
Reports indicate that reality TV figure Spencer Pratt leads with 27.3%, while Democratic candidate Nitya Raman is trailing closely at 26.2%, with only 7,494 votes separating them.
Welker pointed out that the Republican candidates seemed to be performing well initially, citing Hilton and Pratt.
However, Trump suggested that the margin between those candidates was shrinking as more votes were counted, hinting that the election outcomes might have been manipulated.
Experts note that California’s voting process tends to take longer than in many other states, primarily due to its specific laws. Options for voters include mail-in ballots, votes at centers, using secure drop boxes, or provisional voting. Election officials are permitted to prepare mail-in ballots ahead of time, but actual vote counting starts only after the polls close.
California allows ballots to be accepted after Election Day if they are postmarked by the designated deadline. Voters have up to 14 days to address any signature or ID discrepancies, extending the overall timeline for final results.
In contrast, states like Florida and Texas typically report nearly complete unofficial results on election night, thanks to their practices of processing mail-in ballots beforehand and enforcing stricter deadlines for ballot submissions.
Despite Trump’s persistent claims of fraud related to the delayed results, Welker challenged him repeatedly, stating there was no evidence suggesting that California’s election process was tampered with. The argument ultimately resulted in Trump ending the interview early, stating, “I’ve had enough.”
