Chuck Todd will step down as Meet the Press moderator after nine years in the role. Kristen Welker, NBC News chief White House correspondent, will take over the position. Todd made the announcement at the end of the program June 4, saying many in television “overstay their welcome,” while he’d rather depart “a little bit too soon than stay a tad too long.”
Todd called it a family decision, citing friends who had let their work consume them. He will continue as NBC News chief political analyst.
Welker started at NBC as an intern on Today in 1997. She is co-anchor of Saturday Today in addition to her chief White House correspondent role. She joined Saturday Today in 2020 and began covering the White House for NBC News in December 2011.
Welker moderated the final presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden in October 2020 at Belmont University in Nashville.
A Harvard grad, she previously worked at WCAU Philadelphia as a reporter and anchor. Before that, Welker worked at WLNE Providence, Rhode Island, and KRCR Redding, California.
Todd did not say when he will sign off from Meet the Press, though published reports said that would happen in the fall. An inquiry to NBC News was not addressed at deadline.
