Global Courant
“Meet the Press” host and moderator Chuck Todd announced Sunday that he will retire this year after nine years as the public affairs talk show host. Kristen Welker, NBC News’ co-chief White House correspondent, will succeed him.
“It’s been an amazing run of almost a decade. I’m really proud of what this team and I have built over the last decade,” Todd said on Sunday’s broadcast. “I’ve loved this work so much, helping explain America to Washington and explaining Washington to America.”
He plans to remain with NBC in a new role as chief political analyst, where he will be an important voice both in the field and during coverage of major events. He will also focus on longform journalism.
“When I took over ‘Meet the Press,’ it was a Sunday show that left a lot of people wondering if it could still have a place in the modern media space,” added Todd. “Well, I think we’ve answered that question and then some.”
In a memo to staffers, NBC News president of editorial staff Rebecca Blumenstein and NBC News senior vice president of politics, Carrie Budoff Brown, praised “Chuck’s thoughtful and impassioned leadership.”
“Meet the Press has retained its historic role as the must-have Sunday morning news program,” said Blumenstein and Budoff Brown. “Through its incisive interviews with many of the top newsmakers, the show has played a vital role in politics and policy, routinely making headlines and framing thinking in Washington and beyond.”
Welker joins the hosts, including Tim Russert, who presided over the show from 1991 until his death in 2008. She is the second woman – after the inaugural host, Martha Rountree – and the first black journalist to moderate “Meet the Press” . “
“Meet the Press” is the longest-running show on American television and celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. It has led its rival shows in total viewership for over eight years, winning its first Emmy during Todd’s tenure for a special report titled “Schools, America, and Race.”
Todd helmed the show during some of the most groundbreaking political events of the past decade – including the final years of President Barack Obama’s administration, the 2016 presidential campaign and the election of Donald Trump, and the aftermath of the riots in the US Capitol. on January 6, 2021.
In one of the most memorable interviews of the early Trump era, Todd asked Kellyanne Conway, one of Trump’s top aides, why then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer used his first appearance in the briefing room to address reports of the size of to contest the crowd at the meeting. inauguration. Conway replied that Spicer was providing “alternative facts” — a phrase that quickly became synonymous with the Trump administration’s attitude to facts and the news media.
In response, Todd said, “Look, alternative facts aren’t facts. They’re untruths.”
Todd — the 12th moderator of “Meet the Press” and a five-time Emmy-winning journalist — saw himself as a keeper of the show. “I don’t own this, I just sit on the house,” he said at a 75th anniversary celebration in Washington last year. “I want to leave it in better shape for the next person, and everyone else has.”
Welker has regularly filled in for Todd on “Meet the Press.” In his remarks on Sunday’s broadcast, Todd said he was willing to step back in part because Welker “had been ready for this for a long time”.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with her from day one, and let me say she’s the right person at the right time,” he said.
Welker joined NBC News in 2010 and became a mainstay in the White House briefing room. She has covered the last three presidential elections, has traveled the world with top political leaders, and moderated the last debate of 2020 between Trump and President Joe Biden. In 2020, she was named co-host of ‘Weekend Today’.
“She has masterfully moderated presidential debates before the primaries and general elections, and her sharp questioning of lawmakers is a masterclass in political interviewing,” Blumenstein and Budoff Brown said in their memo to staffers. “A tenacious reporter who enjoys getting big scoops, she is widely admired by the agency and network for her close-knit nature.”
Welker will take over the show as the 2024 presidential campaign heats up and prepares for the start of the primary season. The first GOP debate is scheduled for Aug. 23, the Republican National Committee announced last week.
Todd took over “Meet the Press” in September 2014, succeeding David Gregory, and expanded the program’s broadcast and digital footprint to include a weekly podcast, blog, and annual film festival. In addition to the Sunday program, he helped launch and host “MTP Daily”, a weekday version of the show that aired on MSNBC before moving to the NBC News Now streaming service last year.
He was previously the chief correspondent of NBC News at the White House and host of the MSNBC series ‘The Daily Rundown’. Prior to joining NBC, Chuck was editor-in-chief of The Hotline, a political news and commentary website, where he built a reputation as an astute election analyst with a quick grasp of data.
Disclosure: NBC News and CNBC are parts of Comcast-owned NBCUniversal.
