Seasoned NBC political anchors Lestor Holt and Kristen Welker will take the reins alongside conservative Salem Radio Network radio host Hugh Hewitt to oversee the third Republican debate Wednesday.
The trio has multiple debates under their belt, and most of them have already interviewed some of the candidates who will be slugging it out on stage at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami, Fla.
The GOP field on the debate stage will be winnowed down a notch since the second debate Sept. 27 in Simi Valley, Calif., meaning that candidates should have more time allotted to them.
Holt, 64, has been the face of NBC’s “Nightly News” since 2015, after his predecessor Brian Williams was demoted for embellishing a personal tale.
As the head of NBC’s marquee news show, Holt has spent significant time recently reporting on the ground in the ongoing Israel-Hamas War, which has become a hot topic in the GOP primary contest.
One of his most notable interviews this year was his one-on-one with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in September.
There has been skepticism from conservatives about the moderators, although Holt was once a registered Republican before switching to independent by 2018.
He is a veteran of debates, having moderated the first general election showdown between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016, a matchup that became the most watched presidential debate, with more than 84 million people tuned in.
Fewer than four years later, Holt co-moderated the first Democratic primary debate of the 2020 election cycle in Miami, Fla., in 2019. He then hosted another primary debate in February 2020 in Las Vegas.
Holt scored the first major television interview with President-elect Biden after his victory, too.
The even-keeled newsman has won much acclaim in the world of journalism, scooping up accolades such as the National Press Club Fourth Estate award and the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement award.
A 2018 Hollywood Reporter poll ranked him as the most trusted TV anchor in the nation.
In September, Welker, 47, took command of NBC’s prized Sunday special “Meet the Press,” becoming the first black person and second woman to host the historic show.
Welker’s elevation marked a significant milestone in which all the marquee Sunday news shows on major networks had female anchors either anchoring or co-anchoring them.
Welker previously co-anchored “Weekend TODAY” and served as NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent.
Welker anchored the final debate between Trump and Biden at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., in October 2020 against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That made her the first black woman to moderate a major presidential debate since 1992.
A Harvard University graduate and mother of one, Welker was once briefly registered as a Democrat in Washington, DC, but switched to independent.
Welker has already interviewed numerous 2024 GOP contenders such as Trump, who is expected to skip Wednesday’s debate, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Although no longer an NBC host, Hewitt, 67, has a lengthy history with the network. He launched a show, “Hugh Hewitt” on MSNBC in 2017. It was scrapped about a year later.
He also often appeared as a guest on some of the outlet’s top shows across its family of networks such as MSNBC, but that set-up largely ended after 2020, and he has since appeared on Fox News.
Hewitt helped moderate multiple GOP presidential debates during the 2016 election cycle and famously clashed with Trump.
“The Hugh Hewitt Show” airs weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. on hundreds of radio stations across the country.
He has penned 16 books on faith and politics, according to his website biography. Hewitt has also taught constitutional law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law.
Throughout the 2024 election cycle, Hewitt has landed interviews with many of the candidates who will be verbally jousting on stage.
He has also generated some news for his foreign-policy-centric discussions with candidates such as multimillionaire biotechnology entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who he grilled on Taiwan.
Wednesday’s two-hour debate is set to air on NBC’s television and digital platforms as well as Rumble, which has been partnering with the Republican National Committee on the debates.
A fourth debate has been scheduled for Dec. 6 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.