October 18, 2020

Video Surfaces Of Final Debate Moderator ‘Tipping Off’ Hillary Clinton Campaign On Interview Questions In 2016

By Ryan Saavedra
MSNBC ANCHORS -- Season: 2016 -- Pictured: Kristen Welker, NBC News White House Correspondent --
Art Streiber/MSNBC/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

NBC News reporter Kristen Welker, the debate moderator for the final presidential debate, has strong ties to Democrat activism and has even been caught on camera “tipping off” a member of Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential campaign about “at least one question” that she was going to ask during an interview, according to a new report.

“Welker comes from an established Democratic family — who have poured cash into party coffers, and to Trump opponents, for years,” the New York Post reported. “Her mother, Julie Welker, a prominent real estate broker in Philadelphia, and father, Harvey Welker, a consulting engineer, have donated tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates and close to $20,000 to Barack Obama alone. There was also $3,300 for Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and $2,100 for Hillary Clinton’s doomed 2016 presidential effort against Trump. Another $7,300 was contributed to the Democratic National Committee between 2004 and 2020.”

The report comes after Chris Wallace, a registered Democrat who moderated the first debate, and Savannah Guthrie, who hosted a town hall last week with President Donald Trump, have both been widely criticized for bias during the two events.

The New York Post’s Jon Levine also highlighted photographs that were on Welker’s Facebook page that showed that she and her family celebrated Christmas at the White House with the Obamas in 2012.

https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1317867522704592896

“Though Kristen Welker’s party registration is not listed today, she was a registered Democrat in Washington, DC, in 2012 and in Rhode Island in 2004,” Levine wrote. “Throughout Welker’s tenure as a White House correspondent, she has earned a reputation for a scathing style of questioning.”

One example that Levine showcased included a conspiracy-minded question that Welker asked Trump last year.

“Mr. President, yes or no. … have you ever worked for Russia. Yes or no?” Welker aggressively asked Trump.

Levine then highlighted how Welker asks Democrats questions, including a clip from 2016 where she “was busted on live television tipping off Hillary Clinton’s Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri about at least one question she planned to ask her during a post-debate interview in Michigan.”

WATCH:

Trump responded to the report by tweeting: “She’s always been terrible & unfair, just like most of the Fake News reporters, but I’ll still play the game. The people know! How’s Steve Scully doing?”

Trump’s reference to Steve Scully comes after he was suspended from C-SPAN after admitting to lying about having his Twitter account hacked after he sent a tweet to a Trump opponent seeking their advice on how to deal with the president.

Scully, who was scheduled to host the second presidential debate, portrayed himself as a victim in a statement.

“For several weeks, I was subjected to relentless criticism on social media and in conservative news outlets regarding my role as moderator for the second presidential debate, including attacks aimed directly at my family,” Scully wrote. “This culminated on Thursday, October 8th when I heard President Trump go on national television twice and falsely attack me by name. Out of frustration, I sent a brief tweet addressed to Anthony Scaramucci. The next morning when I saw that this tweet had created a new controversy, I falsely claimed that my Twitter account had been hacked.”

Trump slammed Scully immediately following Scully’s admission that he was a liar, writing: “I was right again! Steve Scully just admitted he was lying about his Twitter being hacked. The Debate was Rigged! He was suspended from @cspan indefinitely. The Trump Campaign was not treated fairly by the ‘Commission’. Did I show good instincts in being the first to know?”