Trump puts 'Meet The Press' moderator in her place after aggressive questioning

President Trump and 'Meet The Press' moderator Kristen Welker.

President Donald Trump walked out of a Meet The Press interview that aired Sunday on NBC amid an aggressive line of questioning from the show's moderator, Kristen Welker.

Mother Nature ratcheted up the tension on the interview before a single question was even asked as heavy rains were falling in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where the interview took place and where Trump was on hand for a roundtable with farmers on U.S. agriculture. The heavy rain was a constant drag on the interview from a technical perspective, as it caused audio problems and could be heard pounding on the roof of the venue where the interview took place.

Then the real fireworks started when Welker pressed Trump on his proposed anti-weaponization fund, which has faced pushback from some in Congress and from the mainstream media at large. When the topic turned to election integrity amid California taking several days to count primary votes, Trump criticized states that take excessive amounts of time to tally votes, and called into question the result of the 2020 election, the result of which Trump has long maintained was tainted. 

Welker repeatedly demanded "evidence" that the 2020 election was compromised, which led to Trump saying, "The election was rigged. It was a dirty election. And it’s happening again right now in California." As Welker's hostility toward Trump escalated, he wound the interview down early. Welker's hostility was so apparent, some posted screen shots of her on social media wondering if she or her contemporaries in the mainstream press had ever questioned former President Obama in such an aggressive manner.

"You're either crooked or you're stupid. You play right into their hands with this stuff. You know that these elections are rigged. All I have to do is look," Trump said. "They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And Meet the Press is crooked. And so is ABC and CBS and CNN," Trump said. He then told Welker he'd given her enough time and ended the discussion.

Welker then pleaded with Trump to stay, complaining that she had traveled "all the way to Wisconsin" to do the interview, almost implying she paid for the flight and hotel by herself, and not NBC News.

“I’ve sat in the rain with you for an hour. On and off in the rain and I’ve given you enough time. You oughta straighten out your press,” Trump said, before walking out. Watch a highlight of the blowup below and read a transcript of the interview here.