Kristen Welker faces a "herculean challenge" as moderator of tonight's presidential debate

The Washington Post

Welker was already facing a daunting task after Chris Wallace failed to maintain order in the first debate. "Now, the NBC White House correspondent has the herculean challenge of refereeing the last significant media moment for the candidates before election day," says Jeremy Barr. "Not to mention the fact that one of the participants has been insulting her to whoever will listen. In recent days, Trump has called her a 'no good,' 'crooked,' 'terrible,' and 'unfair' 'disaster' who is a 'radical left Democrat' and a 'totally partisan' and 'totally biased' 'Never Trumper' ('That’s not true,' Welker’s colleague Kelly O’Donnell shouted back at Trump after he accused her of being a secret liberal on Monday.) Over the weekend, an article in the conservative New York Post, which was hyped on the Fox News morning show Fox & Friends, claimed that Welker has 'has deep Democrat ties,' based largely on the fact that her parents have made campaign donations to Democratic candidates. Libby Leist, who serves as executive producer of NBC’s Today show and is part of Welker’s debate prep team, says that her colleague is brushing off the criticism and staying focused on the task at hand. Like this year’s other moderators, Welker declined to grant pre-debate interviews."