NBC News host Kristen Welker called out Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), a Donald Trump surrogate, for issuing more executive orders than President Joe Biden and calling Jan. 6 a "smooth transition" of power.
During an interview on Sunday, Welker noted that the former president made caveats while saying he would accept the results of the 2024 election at a recent debate.
"You don't have to be that old to know that in 2000, the Democrats challenged the election," Burgum argued.
"Donald Trump challenged the election results, he had a right to do that," Welker noted, "and yet Hillary Clinton and Al Gore conceded. Donald Trump has yet to concede. Is that not undemocratic, particularly for someone who's running to be the leader of this country?"
"Donald Trump, at the end of his term on January 20th, left the White House. We had a smooth transition," Burgum claimed.
"Jan. 6 wasn't exactly a smooth transition," Welker pointed out.
"Well, I think we have to say that there was a smooth transition," Burgum insisted. "As a governor in North Dakota today, I've been living under what I call the Biden dictatorship because of all the rules and regulations."
"Let me ask you about your comments about a dictatorship," Welker said. "You say he's a dictator for passing all these rules and regulations. Biden's passed 139 executive orders. Trump had passed 169 at this point, and governor you, as governor, have passed 164. Does that make you the dictator of North Dakota?"
"I'm not trying to jam rules and regulations down on our state," Burgum said in his defense. "I'm most — and most of President Trump's executive orders — we're trying to get rid of red tape."
