Kristen Welker

Kristen Welker is an award-winning broadcast journalist, former Chief White House correspondent, and leading political reporter. She is the 13th moderator of "Meet the Press," the second woman, following inaugural host Martha Rountree, and first Black journalist to hold this position. Welker holds a Bachelor of Arts in American history from Harvard University and has built her career through local and national reporting roles before advancing to national prominence in political journalism.

Welker began her career in local television, working at stations in Rhode Island and California, before joining WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, where she anchored the weekend newscasts and started as a general assignment reporter. Prior to covering the White House, she was a network correspondent based in Burbank, California.

Welker was nominated for a National Emmy Award for her role in midterm election coverage and later won a National Emmy Award for coverage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. She began covering the White House for NBC News, traveling domestically and internationally with President Obama, the First Lady, and then-Vice President Biden.

As Chief White House correspondent, Welker became a regular presence in the briefing room and on the campaign trail, covering multiple administrations and breaking major stories. During the 2016 presidential election, she reported from the trail covering former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's campaign and broke the exclusive that Vice President Joe Biden decided not to run for office that cycle. Her reputation as a skilled and fair moderator was established when she hosted the final debate in the 2020 presidential election between incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and challenger former Vice President Joe Biden.

Since becoming moderator of "Meet the Press," Welker has conducted high-profile interviews with world leaders and officials, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, major Republican presidential candidates, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. She also co-moderated the third Republican Presidential Debate in Miami alongside Lester Holt.

Welker's work in journalism has been recognized by several organizations. She is a recipient of the National Press Club's highest honor, the Fourth Estate Award, and received the Radio Television Digital News Foundation's First Amendment Award for her commitment to a free press. The Fourth Estate is the top honor bestowed on a journalist by the National Press Club Board of Governors, with previous winners including Christiane Amanpour, Tom Brokaw, Walter Cronkite, Lester Holt, and Gwen Ifill. She was also named among Glamour's "Women of the Year" for breaking barriers in broadcast journalism. With a career spanning decades of political reporting, debate moderation, and leadership in news media, Welker is recognized as a trusted voice in American political journalism.