Kristen Welker

Journalist (born 1976)

4 min read

Kristen Welker (born July 1, 1976) is an American television journalist working for NBC News. She serves as a White House correspondent based in Washington, D.C., and served as co-anchor of Weekend Today, the Saturday edition of Today, alongside Peter Alexander from 2020 to 2023. She took over hosting duties for the longest-running program in television history, Meet the Press, on September 17, 2023.

Early life and education

Kristen Welker is the daughter of Harvey and Julie Welker. Her father is an engineer, her mother a real estate agent. Welker's father is Jewish and her mother is Black. She graduated from the private Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia in 1994.

Welker received a Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) with a major in American history from Harvard College in 1998. She interned for the TV program Today in 1997.

Career

Welker has worked at ABC affiliates WLNE-TV in Providence, Rhode Island, and KRCR-TV in Redding/Chico, California, and joined NBC in 2005 at affiliate WCAU in Philadelphia, where she was a reporter and weekend anchor. She then joined NBC News in 2010 as a correspondent based at the NBC News West Coast Headquarters in Burbank, California. She became an NBC White House correspondent in December 2011.

Welker regularly represented MSNBC at the daily White House press briefings as well as reported live for various programs on the channel. She occasionally filled in on NBC Nightly News and Today. On January 10, 2020, NBC announced that Welker would become the regular co-anchor of Weekend Today alongside Peter Alexander. She debuted as co-anchor on Weekend Today on January 11, 2020.

On October 22, 2020, amidst the ongoing COVID pandemic emergency, Kristen Welker hosted the final debate in the 2020 presidential election between incumbent Republican president Donald Trump and his challenger, former vice president Joe Biden.

In September 2023, Welker succeeded Chuck Todd as anchor of the Sunday morning program Meet the Press and its weekday spin-off Meet the Press Now on NBC News NOW.

On her debut show as host, she interviewed former U.S President Donald Trump. The interview was criticized by some who felt that Welker did not challenge Trump's alleged falsehoods enough and that Trump shouldn't have been given a platform to spread his views on the 2020 election and other topics.

On November 8, 2023, she co-moderated the third 2024 GOP primary debate alongside Lester Holt and Hugh Hewitt in Miami, Florida. Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy started off by calling her a member of the "corrupt media establishment" and accusing her of pushing "the Trump–Russia collusion hoax". Welker grinned and ignored the attack and Holt moved on.

On May 4, 2025, Welker interviewed Donald Trump for the second time on Meet the Press. This interview received some notoriety after Trump expressed doubt when asked if he would uphold the US Constitution as President.

Personal life

Welker married marketing executive John Hughes in Philadelphia on March 4, 2017. The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Margot, via surrogate in June 2021, after publicly sharing their journey with infertility."6 Things to Know About Kristen Welker..." TV Insider. Retrieved October 17, 2025. They welcomed a second child, son John Zachary, via surrogate on May 30, 2024."Kristen Welker expecting second baby via surrogate". People Magazine. Retrieved October 17, 2025.

Awards and recognition

2023: Named among *Glamour*’s “Women of the Year” for breaking barriers in broadcast journalism."Kristen Welker Is Ready to Break Barriers". Glamour. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
2020: Commended by multiple networks for her moderation of the 2020 presidential debate.
Harvard College — Magna cum laude, Bachelor of Arts in American history (1998).
Germantown Friends School (Philadelphia) graduate, 1994.