Chuck Todd Bids Farewell To 'Meet The Press' As He Welcomes Next Moderator
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Chuck Todd ushered in a new era of “Meet the Press” on Sunday as he welcomed Kristen Welker as the show’s next moderator.
Todd, who took over hosting duties from David Gregory in 2014, bid farewell to the longest-running TV program in the U.S. after announcing his exit as moderator in June.
“On my first day on the job at ‘Meet the Press,’ I was handed an audience survey of Sunday show viewers. And the number one reason folks said they tuned in was not because of who the person was behind the chair or the guests. It was simply to get educated,” Todd said in a signoff to viewers on Sunday.
“So for nearly a decade, I’ve had the honor of helping to explain America to Washington and Washington to America,” he added. “And it’s that education piece that I’m hanging my hat on for the rest of my professional life.”
Todd handed off moderator duties to Welker, who has served as chief White House correspondent at NBC News and been a co-anchor for the weekend edition of the “Today” show.
She notably moderated the second — and final — debate between then-President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election.
Welker, who is set to be the 13th moderator since the program’s debut in 1947, showed her appreciation for Todd and told him how she plans to take on the job.
“I want to approach this as a reporter. That’s who I am. That’s who I’ve always been,” said Welker, who noted her coverage of the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations.
“I’ve traveled all over the world with all of these presidents. And I really want to bring that to the show every Sunday, to make sure that we are giving our viewers the information that they need,” she added.
She went on to address divisions in the country, noting that she needs to keep her “finger on the pulse of what matters to voters.”
“I’m going to be out on the trail. I’m going to be bringing their questions here to the moderator’s desk,” Welker told Todd. “And you’ve always said this: The role of the moderator is to bring Washington to the rest of America, and vice versa. It’s a huge responsibility. It’s one that I take very seriously.”
You can check out Todd’s signoff and his full interview with Welker in the clip below.
