Kristen Welker, moderator of "Meet the Press," NBC News chief White House correspondent

Kristen Welker is the moderator of "Meet the Press" and an NBC News chief White House correspondent whose political reporting appears across all NBC News and MSNBC platforms, including NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, TODAY, Meet the Press and NBCNews.com.

She is the second woman — following its inaugural host, Martha Rountree — and the first Black journalist to moderate “Meet the Press.”

Welker will take over the show as the 2024 presidential campaign heats up and prepares to enter the primary season.

She joined Saturday TODAY as co-anchor in January 2020 and began covering the White House for NBC News in Dec. 2011, traveling domestically and internationally with President Barack Obama, the first lady and then Vice President Joe Biden. Welker also covered President Donald Trump’s administration, the 2020 presidential race and is currently leading the network’s coverage of the Biden administration.

During the 2020 general presidential election, Welker moderated the final presidential debate between former President Trump and now President Biden on Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Welker received universal recognition for her performance, and USA Today wrote that she was “praised for ‘masterclass’ debate moderation.” In November 2019, Welker co-moderated the fifth Democratic presidential debate hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, alongside Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell and The Washington Post's Ashley Parker.

During the 2016 presidential election, Welker reported from the trail covering former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign. She broke the exclusive that Vice President Joe Biden decided not to run for office that cycle.

Prior to the White House beat, Welker was a network correspondent based in Burbank, California, joining NBC News in 2010. During her first year at the network, Welker was nominated for a National Emmy Award for her role in NBC News’ midterm election coverage. She won a National Emmy Award for her role in NBC News’ coverage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Welker was also a researcher on Weekend TODAY early in her career and an intern for TODAY while in college.

Welker previously worked at WCAU-TV, NBC’s Philadelphia owned and operated station, where she anchored the NBC 10 weekend newscasts and started as a general assignment reporter in April 2005. She also previously worked at WLNE-TV in Providence, Rhode Island, and KRCR-TV in Redding, California.

Welker, a native of Philadelphia, graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a Bachelor’s in American history. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, John Hughes.

Follow Welker on Twitter @kwelkernbc.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com