Amy Klobuchar defends 'first-class journalist' Kristen Welker after Trump's outburst

President Donald Trump faced major backlash after he stormed out of a taped interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." When pressed for evidence over his claims of election fraud, Trump attacked journalist Kristen Welker, calling her "stupid" and the media "crooked." Reacting to the behavior, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) slammed the President, claiming it was his policies that were "crooked and stupid."  

Trump sat with Welker for a taped interview on a Wisconsin farm where he talked about the Iran war, the $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, and elections. As he made several controversial claims about the 2020 elections and the ongoing elections in California, Welker pressed the President to provide any evidence to back up his allegations. "They're crooked, just like you're crooked, your press is crooked, and 'Meet the Press' is crooked," Trump said in response. When pressed further, Trump took off his mic, saying, "You're either crooked or you're stupid. Let's call it quits because I've had enough, thank you, darling, have a good time," and walked out. 

Sharing a clip of the heated exchange on X, Klobuchar took major shots at the President. "What is 'crooked' is the money for the ballroom, what is 'stupid' are the tariffs. And what is "darling" is a first-class journalist," she wrote, defending Welker. 

Klobuchar's comments on the $400 million White House Ballroom project come as a recent watchdog report found that over half of the 27 publicly-identified donors to the project were awarded new or expanded federal contracts since construction work began. The analysis from Public Citizen revealed 14 saw their government business grow in the first six months after Trump tore down the East Wing, with the contract awards worth a combined $50 billion. 

On the tariff front, the Trump administration recently proposed tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on 60 trading partners, including the U.K., the EU, and Australia, using a provision of the law that allows them to circumvent the Supreme Court's ruling on the emergency tariffs. While Trump adjusted tariffs on farm equipment as he is on a campaign to reassure farmers, who are hard-hit by tariffs and the economic fallout of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. However, according to The Hill, the war has sent fertilizer prices through the roof, at a time when farm bankruptcies reached their highest level in six years this April. Trump's tariff war last year contributed to a sharp decline in U.S. exports to top trading partners like Canada, where consumers boycotted some American goods, and U.S. agricultural exports dropped by over $1 billion. 

Furthermore, this isn't the first time that Trump lashed out at a journalist, and the incidents have grown frequent in the recent past. Last week, he went after CNN's chief White House correspondent and host Kaitlan Collins, for "not smiling" and looking "hateful". "CNN's crooked as hell, CNN's a very corrupt organization, with a corrupt reporter standing right there, never smiles," he said during an event at the White House. Days earlier, he indirectly threatened Representative Brian Fitzpatrick through his fiancée, Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, for not voting in favor of his policies.