Host and host of “Meet the Reporter” Chuck Todd announced Sunday that he will step down this year after nine years hosting the public affairs talk show. He will be replaced by NBC News co-chief White House correspondent Kristen Welker.
“It’s been an amazing nearly 10 years. I’m very proud of this team and everything I’ve built over the past 10 years,” Todd said on Sunday’s broadcast. “I absolutely love this job, Help explain America to Washington, and Washington to America.”
He plans to continue at NBC in his new role as chief political analyst, where he will serve as a key speaker during live and major event coverage. He will also focus on long-form journalism.
“When I took over ‘Meet the Press,’ which was a Sunday show, a lot of people questioned whether it still had a place in modern media,” Todd added. “Well, I think we’ve answered that question, and then some.”
In a memo to staff, NBC News President of Editorial Rebecca Blumenstein and NBC News Senior Vice President of Political Carrie Budoff Brown praised “Chuck’s thoughtful, Passionate leadership”.
“‘Meet the Press’ has maintained its historic role as an indispensable Sunday morning news program,” said Blumenstein and Budolph Brown. “Through his in-depth interviews with many of the most important newsmakers, the show has been instrumental in politics and policy, often making front-page news and shaping thinking in Washington and beyond.”
Welker joins a host that includes Tim Russert, who hosted the show from 1991 until his death in 2008. She is the second woman to host “Meet the Press” after first-time host Martha Rountree, and the first black journalist to host “Meet the Press.” “
“Meet the Press,” the longest-running show on US television, celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. It has led rival shows in viewership totals for more than eight years and won its first Emmy during Todd’s tenure for a special report titled “Schools, America and Race.”
Todd has been at the helm of some of the most seminal 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 U.S. Capitol riots in 2021 January 6th.
In one of Trump’s most memorable early interviews, Todd asks one of Trump’s top aides, Kellyanne Conway, why then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer first appeared in the briefing room Take issue with reports about the size of the crowd at the inauguration.Conway replied that Spicer was Provide “Alternative Facts” — a phrase that quickly became synonymous with the Trump administration’s approach to facts and the news media.
In response, Todd said: “Look, alternative facts aren’t facts. They’re lies.”
Todd — “Meet the Press”‘s 12th host and five-time Emmy-winning journalist — sees himself as the show’s guardian. “I don’t own this, I’m just a housekeeper,” he said at a 75th-anniversary ceremony in Washington last year. “I wanted to leave a better state for the next guy and everybody did that.”
Welker often substitutes for Todd on “Meet the Press”. In remarks that aired Sunday, Todd said he was prepared to take a step back, in part because Welker had “prepared for this for a long time.”
“I’ve had the privilege of working with her since day one and I just want to say she was 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 past three presidential elections, traveled the world with top political leaders, and Moderated the last debate of 2020 Between Trump and President Biden. In 2020, she was named the co-host of Weekend Today.
“She deftly moderated the primary and general election presidential debates, and her sharp questioning of lawmakers was a master class in political interviewing,” Blumenstein and Beagle Brown said in a memo to staff. “She was a tenacious reporter who loved getting big news and was widely admired throughout the bureau and the network for her highly collaborative nature.”
Welker will take over the show as the 2024 presidential race heats up and prepares to enter the primaries. The Republican National Committee announced last week that the first Republican debate will be held on Aug. 23.
Todd took over the reins of Meet the Press from David Gregory in September 2014, expanding the show’s broadcast and digital footprint to include a weekly podcast, blog and annual film festival. In addition to the Sunday show, he helped launch and host “MTP Daily,” a weekday version of the show that aired on MSNBC before moving to streaming service NBC News Now last year.
He has served as chief White House correspondent for NBC News and host of the MSNBC series “The Daily Rundown.” Before joining NBC, Chuck was editor-in-chief of The Hotline, a political news and commentary site, where he was known for his astute election analyst and quick grasp of numbers.