GOP senator calls out NBC for ‘leaving out important words’ from 14th amendment in Trump interview

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah., took NBC News to task for “choosing to leave” a key part of the 14th Amendment out of a question about birthright citizenship during an interview with President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday.

Trump was asked about a number of reforms he intends to implement once he takes office during a sit-down broadcast on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” including his plan to end birthright citizenship. Under the 14th Amendment, a person born in the US is granted citizenship regardless of whether their parents are citizens. Trump has confirmed that he intends to end the policy “on Day One,” calling it “ridiculous.”

NBC host Kristen Welker pushed back, arguing that the 14th Amendment “says that all people in the United States are citizens. Can you intrude on the 14th Amendment by executive action?” he asked.

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Trump said he was open to using executive action, repeating that the US is “the only country that has it” and “we have to get rid of it.”

Lee shared a clip of the exchange on X later Sunday, chastising the NBC host for leaving out six sensitive words from the 14th Amendment in his question to Trump.

“All people born…

“Those words are important,” he added.

The senator continued to discuss the issue in a lengthy 12-part series.

“Congress has the power to define what it means to be born in the United States ‘and under its jurisdiction,'” he wrote.

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“Although current law has no such restrictions, Congress could pass legislation defining what it means to be born in the United States ‘and under its jurisdiction,’ excluding the possibility of birthright citizenship for people born in the US to illegal aliens.

“Those who suggest that Congress is somehow powerless to abridge the right of birth to a citizen ignore an important text of the constitution that gives Congress the power to define who among those ‘born in the United States’ is born under its authority.’

“I am concerned that @MeetThePress, long regarded as America’s best Sunday political news program, has become one-sided,” he continued.

“In this instance, @MeetThePress appears to be trying to provide a debatable issue without debate by selectively omitting key words from the Constitution, falsely implying that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits any restrictions on citizenship rights.”

NBC did not respond to Fox News Digital when asked if the omission was intentional.

Trump talked about a number of topics during the interview, including his plan to restore the country’s reputation around the world, his thoughts on FBI Director Christopher Wray, and how he plans to unite a fractured country in his inaugural address.

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“It will be a message of unity, and I think success brings unity. And I’ve experienced that. I’ve experienced it in my first term, as I said. We’re going to be talking about unity, and we’re going to be talking about success. Keeping people who shouldn’t be in our country, I know it doesn’t sound good, but we have to do it. That. Basically, it’s going to happen and we’re going to unite our country,” Trump said.