Kristen Welker reacts to becoming ‘Meet the Press’ moderator: ‘The honor of my life’

Weekend TODAY co-host Kristen Welker was named moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, and her TODAY family congratulated her on her new position during Monday's broadcast.

"Chief White House Correspondent, Saturday anchor of Weekend TODAY, and now we can announce: new moderator of 'Meet the Press,'" TODAY's Savannah Guthrie said before breaking into applause.

"Come on girl," TODAY's Hoda Kotb said while clapping. "Way to go, way to go!"

Kristen beamed as Savannah described her as "one of the most capable and wonderful and best colleagues we have."

"My TODAY show family, you guys have been so supportive of me, always, and in this moment I'm so grateful," Kristen said. "This is truly the honor of my life.

"'Meet the Press' is one of the most important political broadcasts in history," she continued. "I just feel so grateful and humbled to all of those who built this amazing legacy. I'm thinking about Martha Rountree, Tim Russert and of course, my mentor Chuck Todd, who taught me just about everything I know about politics."

The "Meet the Press" host and moderator announced Sunday he would step down from his position hosting the public affairs talk show later this year.

"It's been an amazing nearly decadelong run. I am really proud of what this team and I have built over the last decade," he said during the broadcast Sunday. "I've loved so much of this job, helping to explain America to Washington and explain Washington to America."

Chuck, 51, added that he felt ready to hand the show over to Kristen because she's been "ready for this for a long time." He's hosted the show for nine years.

"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," he said.

In a landmark moment for the show, Kristen will become the second woman and first Black journalist to moderate "Meet the Press."

"I'm just so fortunate, proud and I just feel so truly humbled that after nearly a decade of serving as moderator an extraordinary body of work that Chuck is the one passing the baton on to me," she said on TODAY on Monday.

Kristen, 46, joined NBC News in 2010 and has covered three presidential elections, moderated the final debate between former President Donald Trump and now-President Joe Biden and was named co-host of Weekend TODAY in 2020.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com