The Silly Furor Over "Allegedly"

Kristen Welker of Meet the Press sparked "fury" for engaging in one of the basics of journalism.

On Sunday, Kristen Welker of Meet The Press offered a throwaway line while introducing one of the show’s guests, former South Carolina governor and presidential candidate Nikki Haley:

Haley is now dialing back expectations… Haley also weighing in on the Supreme Court's decision to hear arguments over Mr. [Donald] Trump’s claim that he’s immune from criminal prosecution for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election.

Colleagues went bananas, pitchforking poor Welker for including the pro forma newsism “allegedly.” The inimitable Aaron Rupar protested that Trump didn’t “allegedly” try to overturn the 2020 election, “He really tried to do that. We lived through it!” Dash Dubrovsky of the Gen Z Perspective Newsletter complained, “Why is Kristen Welker whitewashing Trump’s crimes?” White House Deputy communications director Herbie Ziskend (imagine Louis C.K.’s “whiny house guest” voice here) simply wrote, “‘Allegedly.’ Please do better, folks”: