- Kristen Welker has served as a White House correspondent for NBC News since 2011
- The Harvard grad became the second Black woman to ever moderate a presidential debate in 2020
- In June 2023, it was announced that she will be taking over ‘Meet the Press’
Longtime NBC News journalist Kristen Welker has just been named the host for the iconic Sunday news program Meet the Press. In a major shakeup, the show’s current moderator, Chuck Todd, announced on the June 4, 2023 episode that he will be exiting in September, with Kristen as his replacement. “I’m also ready to take a step back because I know the person whom I’m passing the baton to is somebody who’s been ready for this for a while: Kristen Welker,” Chuck said on the show. “I’ve had the privilege of working with her from essentially her first day and let me just say she’s the right person in the right moment. And for what it’s worth, this is exactly how I always hoped this would end, that I’d be passing the baton to her.”
.@chucktodd has been a mentor and friend since my first day at @NBCNews. I’ve learned so much from sitting with him at the anchor desk and simply experiencing his passion for politics. I'm humbled and grateful to take the baton and continue to build on the legacy of @MeetThePress
— Kristen Welker (@kwelkernbc) June 4, 2023
Kristen took to her Twitter to react to the news (above), calling Chuck a “mentor and friend.” She added, “I’ve learned so much from sitting with him at the anchor desk and simply experiencing his passion for politics. I’m humbled and grateful to take the baton and continue to build on the legacy of @MeetThePress.”
Before she takes over the prestigious news program, learn more about Kristen, below:
1. Her career at NBC News began as a college student.
While still an undergrad at Harvard in 1997, Welker interned at Today. Twenty-three years later, in January 2020, she would become the co-anchor of Weekend Today with Peter Alexander. Welker has served as a White House correspondent for NBC News since 2011, as well, covering the 2016 election extensively. Prior to her full-time tenure at NBC, Welker Welker worked for local TV stations in Rhode Island, California, and Pennsylvania.
2. She’s the second Black woman to ever moderate a presidential debate.
In 2020, Welker, who was born to a white father and a Black mother in Philadelphia , became the second Black woman to moderate a presidential debate, as she presided over the final debate in the race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.
Besides Welker, there has only been one other Black female journalist to helm a presidential debate. That honor went to ABC anchor Carole Simpson moderated the match between George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot in 1992. Simpson was also the first Black woman to helm a major United States network news program.
3. Growing up biracial inspired her to become a journalist.
Welker was one of eight Black journalists interviewed by Glamour in June 2020. She told the magazine that growing up with a Black mother and a white father inspired her to enter the news industry. “Growing up as a biracial child, the idea of helping people of different races and backgrounds better communicate inspired me to become a journalist,” she told the magazine. “With protesters demanding change after George Floyd’s death, it is more important than ever that everyone has a voice and elected leaders from the White House to City Hall are held accountable for their words and actions, or lack thereof.”
4. Becoming co-anchor on ‘Weekend TODAY’ was a ‘dream’ for Kristen.
Kristen wanted to be a journalist since she was six-years-old, according to TODAY, and started her professional career as a researcher for Weekend TODAY before going on to get her first on-air job at KRCR in Redding, CA. After learning of her new job as co-anchor on Weekend TODAY, the hardworking talent was so grateful. “This is something that you dream about that I’ve worked so hard for,” she gushed during the announcement. “It is the honor of a lifetime. It’s coming full circle.”
5. Kristen is a proud mom of a daughter
Kristen and John Hughes, a marketing executive with Merck, started dating in 2014. They got engaged in June 2016 and their wedding took place on March 4, 2017 in the Rose Ballroom at The Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia.
In June 2021, Kristen and John added daughter Margot Lane Welker Hughes to their family. The couple welcomed their baby girl via surrogate following Kristen’s years-long struggles with infertility. Kristen announced Margot’s arrival on the Today Show and revealed that her daughter’s first name was a tribute to her grandmother, Margaret, while Lane is a tribute to a family name on John’s side of the family. And the proud parents love to gush about the Margot on Kristen’s Instagram!