MSNBC Sets All-Female Moderator Panel For Next Democratic Debate

Ted Johnson

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Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell, Kristen Welker and Ashley Parker will moderate the next Democratic debate, scheduled to be hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post on November 20 in Georgia.

The all-female team likely will preside over a smaller field of candidates at the event, the fifth this cycle, as the Democratic National Committee has raised the threshold for participation.

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Maddow and Mitchell each host their own MSNBC shows, Welker is the news org’s chief White House correspondent and Parker is a reporter for the Post.

NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo hosted the first Democratic debate in June.

The announcement of a team of four women to moderate next month’s event comes as NBC News has been facing criticism over the way that it handled the firing of Matt Lauer in 2017.

Ronan Farrow’s new book Catch & Kill alleges that network executives were aware of sexual harassment claims, but NBC News President Noah Oppenheim and Chairman Andrew Lack vigorously have denied Farrow’s reporting. Farrow also claims that his reporting on Harvey Weinstein was sidelined as a way to protect Lauer. In a letter to employees last week, Oppenheim called that allegation a “conspiracy theory.”

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One women’s group, UltraViolet Action, staged a small demonstration outside of NBC in New York on Wednesday. Last week, they called on the Democratic National Committee to drop the network as a debate sponsor until the network replaced top executives and conducted an independent investigation.

The exact location of the debate has yet to be announced. According to NBC News, eight candidates appear to have qualified qualified so far.

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