NBC's Kristen Welker's stunned reaction when asked why network downplayed gunshots at Trump rally as simply 'popping noises'

NBC reporter Kristen Welker appeared stunned when asked at the Republican National Convention why the network downplayed the gunshots at a Trump rally as simply 'popping noises.'

The network has been facing backlash since its breaking news story and posts about the shooting in Pennsylvania said the former president was rushed off the stage 'after popping noises' were heard.

Its New York-affiliated station even seemed to describe the gunfire as 'loud crackling noises.' 

But Welker stood doe-eyed when Turning Point USA reporter Savanah Hernandez confronted her about the editorial decision on Monday night.

She then proceeded to walk away with her crew in tow as she dodged Hernandez's questions.

In a video posted to social media Monday night, Hernandez could be seen approaching Welker in a hallway.

'Kristen, I have a question, when NBC reported that when Trump was assassinated - attempted assassination - it was popping noises that was initially reported. Would you like to respond to that?' she asked the Meet the Press moderator.

But as she spoke, Welker turned away from her and said, 'I'm sorry.'

She was then seen being led out by some of her assistants, at which point Hernandez turned the camera on herself.

'This is Savanah Hernandez and this is actually Kristen Welker right behind me of NBC News, the exact same network that reported after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump that it was just "popping noises,"' she told her followers.

'Kristen, would you like to say anything? No?' Hernandez persisted, as Welker exited the room.

She then tried to ask other NBC crew members what they thought of the network's reporting.

'Would anybody out of NBC like to say anything about your faulty reporting?' Hernandez asks as crew members walk past her. 

'Not at all? Ok.

'So that's your mainstream media ladies and gentlemen. And we have CNN here, we have MSNBC, we have NBC. So this week, I'm really going to try to ask all of these media members what their response is to their networks and this faulty reporting,' she concludes her video.

In its breaking news coverage of the shooting at the Trump rally, NBC headlines read that 'popping noises that sounded like gunshots' were heard.

But when anchor Jose Diaz-Balart eventually came on air, he did say it 'appears shots have apparently been and Donald Trump has been injured.'

Still, many online ridiculed the network for downplaying the shooting.

'Imagine being the news syndicate to report "popping noises" when you can clearly hear gunshots ringing out,' Steven Berube commented on the network's livestream.

'If this was Biden,  the country would be getting shut down at this moment,' he claimed.

'This is the exact reason why even Democrats are sick of their own party.'

An X user also expressed incredulity with NBC's decision to refer to the gunshots as 'popping noises.

'Assassination attempt wounds President Trump in the ear with a rifle shot! Just "popping noises???"' he wrote, before urging others to 'BAN NBC NEWS!'

'Why would anyone watch their 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 lambasted for describing Trump as 'falling' from the stage without reference to the stage without referencing the assassination attempt.

It also faced backlash after CNN correspondent Jamie Gangel pointed out that Trump got up and said 'fight, fight, fight' in the seconds after he was shot.

'What we're hearing from people is that's not the message that we want to be sending right now, we want to tamp it down,' Gangel said of the reaction. 

The former president's son, Donald Trump Jr., replied: 'Someone attempted to assassinate my father tonight, and this is what CNN is focused on.

'These people are vile.' 

Additionally, The New York Times was criticized for running an opinion piece called 'Donald Trump Is Unfit To Lead,' which encouraged voters to 'reject him in November' on the morning after the shooting. 

Printed against an ominous, backlit silhouette of Trump's side profile, the title page also reads: 'He failed the tests of leadership and betrayed America.'

Others slammed The Gray Lady for its headline that morning, reading: 'Trump Hurt, But Safe, After A Shooting', presenting the atrocity in the mildest possible way. 

Some even pointed out the newspaper trimmed out the American flag, which was flying above Trump in the image of him raising a fist with blood across his face moments after a bullet struck him in the right ear. 

Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, from Bethel Park, PA, fired several rounds from a rooftop including one bullet which struck Trump in the ear. It came just days before the former president was to accept the Republican nomination for 2024. 

Crooks - a registered Republican who donated $15 to the liberal ActBlue political action committee on Biden's Inauguration Day in 2021 - killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore, and injured two more people before cops gunned him down.

The Biden administration rushed the president back to the White House from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in the immediate aftermath, and he condemned the shooting on X.