NBC reporter Kristen Welker appeared stunned when asked at the Republican National Convention why the network downplayed gunfire at a Trump rally as simply “popping noises.”
The network has faced backlash since its breaking news and posts about the Pennsylvania shooting said the former president was rushed off the stage “after popping noises were heard.”
Its affiliate station in New York even appeared to describe the gunshots as “loud crackling noises.”
But Welker was left speechless when Turning Point USA reporter Savanah Hernandez confronted her about the editorial decision Monday night.
He then proceeded to walk away with his crew in tow while dodging Hernandez’s questions.
NBC reporter Kristen Welker was left wide-eyed when questioned about the network’s coverage of the shooting at a Trump rally on Monday night.
Welker was escorted away by crew members and eventually left the room as Turning Point USA reporter Savanah Hernandez attempted to question him about the network’s decision to call the gunshots “popping noises.”
In a video posted to social media Monday night, Hernandez can be seen approaching Welker in a hallway.
“Kristen, I have a question. When NBC reported that when Trump was assassinated (assassination attempt), what was initially reported was popping noises. Would you like to respond to that?” she asked the Meet the Press moderator.
But as she spoke, Welker stepped away from her and said, “I’m sorry.”
She was then seen being led away by some of her assistants, at which point Hernandez turned the camera on herself.
“This is Savanah Hernandez and it’s actually Kristen Welker right behind me from NBC News, the same network that reported after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump that it was just ‘popping noises,'” she told her followers.
“Kristen, do you want to say something? No?” Hernandez insisted as Welker left the room.
In its breaking news coverage Saturday night, NBC News reported that “popping noises that sounded like gunshots” were heard at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
The New York affiliate even appeared to describe the gunfire as “loud cracking sounds.”
He then tried to ask other members of the NBC team what they thought of the network’s reports.
“Does anyone from NBC want to say anything about their flawed coverage?” Hernandez asks as crew members walk past.
– Not at all? Okay.
“So, ladies and gentlemen, these are the mainstream media outlets. We have CNN, we have MSNBC, we have NBC. This week, I’m going to try to ask all of these members of the media what their response is to their networks and this misinformation,” he concludes his video.
Former President Donald Trump was hit in the ear during the rally before being escorted away by Secret Service agents.
NBC News was ridiculed for its decision to call the gunshots “popping noises” after the incident.
In its breaking news coverage of the shooting at Trump’s rally, NBC headlined that “popping noises that sounded like gunshots” were heard.
But when presenter José Díaz-Balart It finally aired, He said “it appears that shots were fired and Donald Trump was injured.”
Still, many online ridiculed the network for downplaying the shooting.
“Imagine being the news syndicate reporting ‘popping noises’ when you can clearly hear gunshots,” Steven Berube said on the network’s live broadcast.
“If I were Biden, the country would be paralyzed right now,” he said.
“This is exactly why even Democrats are fed up with their own party.”
CNN also faced criticism for describing Trump as “falling” off the stage without referencing the assassination attempt.
One X user also expressed disbelief at NBC’s decision to refer to the gunshots as “popping noises.”
“Assassination attempt hits President Trump in the ear with a rifle shot! Just ‘popping noises?'” he wrote, before urging others to “BAN NBC NEWS.”
“Why should anyone look at your propaganda?” he asked.
DailyMail.com has reached out to NBC News for comment on the editorial decision.
But NBC was not the only media outlet to face criticism for its coverage of the shooting.
CNN was also criticized for describing Trump as “falling” off the stage without referencing the stage and without referencing the assassination attempt.
He also faced backlash after CNN correspondent Jamie Gangel noted that Trump stood up and said “fight, fight, fight” seconds after he was shot.
“What we’re hearing from people is that that’s not the message we want to send right now, we want to tone it down,” Gangel said of the reaction.
The former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., responded: ‘Someone tried to assassinate my father tonight, and that’s what CNN is focusing on.’
‘These people are vile.’
Critics also attacked the New York Times for its op-ed and headline about the shooting.
In addition, The New York Times was criticized for publishing an opinion piece titled “Donald Trump is unfit to lead’, which encouraged voters to ‘reject him in November’ the morning after the shooting.
Printed over a sinister backlit silhouette of Trump’s profile, the title page also reads: “He failed the tests of leadership and betrayed America.”
Others criticised The Grey Lady for its headline that morning, which read: ‘Trump injured, but safe, after shooting’, presenting the atrocity in the mildest possible light.
Some even pointed out that the newspaper cropped the American flag, which was flying over Trump in the image of him raising a fist with blood on his face, moments after a bullet hit him in the right ear.
Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, fired several shots from a rooftop, including one that hit Trump in the ear. The shooting came just days before the former president accepted the Republican nomination for the 2024 election.
Crooks, a registered Republican who donated $15 to the liberal political action committee ActBlue on Biden’s inauguration day in 2021, killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore and wounded two others before he was shot dead by police.
The Biden administration quickly returned the president to the White House from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, immediately after the incident, and he condemned the shooting at X.