‘Kristen Welker Won the Debate’: NBC Correspondent Showered With Praise From Both Sides on Her Performance as Moderator

NBC News’ Kristen Welker moderated the second and final presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden — earning high praise from both conservative and liberal journalists and pundits.
Trump and his allies had been taking aim at Welker all week, claiming she would be biased and partisan during the debate, but she ultimately did a clean job and asked tough yet fair questions.
Even conservative political commentator and Trump superfan Ben Shapiro praised the journalist for her debate performance:
Welker overall doing an excellent job thus far.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 23, 2020
Several other pundits and journalists took to Twitter to share their praise and analyses, some complimenting Welker overall, while others highlighted her best moments:
.@kwelkernbc doing a stellar job as expected
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 23, 2020
So far @kwelkernbc is crisp and fresh as a moderator.
I think she’s doing a great job.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) October 23, 2020
Kristen Welker is in control.
— emma brown (@emmersbrown) October 23, 2020
Kristen Welker is doing an excellent job so far.
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) October 23, 2020
Excellent, thoughtful question there from @kwelkernbc to Biden about the generations-long impact of an overly harsh crime bill on the Black community.
— William Brangham (@WmBrangham) October 23, 2020
All hail @kwelkernbc — great job.
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) October 23, 2020
Outstanding job by Kristen Welker. Substantive, moved through lots of topics, plenty of disagreement and clarified a lot.
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) October 23, 2020
.@kwelkernbc won the debate
— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) October 23, 2020
.@kwelkernbc #Werk! https://t.co/5DZLY1v5y0
— yvette nicole brown (@YNB) October 23, 2020
Good on @kwelkernbc, who pressed Trump hard, asking him whether he has a plan to reunite the children we separated from their families with their parents. She was looking for a public promise, working for those kids. More journalism like this.
— Mara Gay (@MaraGay) October 23, 2020
Welker’s been great. She’s very effectively used the raised-voice technique to cut off the squabbling.
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) October 23, 2020
Props to Kristen Welker. She’s been fantastic moderating the #PresidentialDebate2020.
— Dominique Yates (@RealDYates) October 23, 2020
Nice job Kristen Welker. #2020Debate
— Jim Hayes (@TheCatOnFox) October 23, 2020
Chris Wallace: I just didn’t know what to do.
Kristen Welker: ?#Debates2020
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 23, 2020
Is it just me, or is Kristen Welker doing a better job than Chris Wallace?
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) October 23, 2020
President Trump complimenting Kristen Welker after attacking her the last few days says: I respect very much the way you are handling this.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) October 23, 2020
President Trump complimenting Kristen Welker after attacking her the last few days says: I respect very much the way you are handling this.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) October 23, 2020
I think we can all agree that Kristen Welker is killing it, so far. Excellent moderation. Superb.#Debates2020
— Charlotte Clymer ?️? (@cmclymer) October 23, 2020
Kristen Welker is putting on a master class in how to moderate a presidential debate #boss https://t.co/wMurDJk5Sx
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) October 23, 2020
Update: Kristen Welker is killing it ya’ll. https://t.co/JiHVNZrqhO
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) October 23, 2020
Commander in chief. pic.twitter.com/PhDg6htv3V
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) October 23, 2020
Kristen Welker doing an excellent job moderating.
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) October 23, 2020
This is currently a Kristen Welker fan account.
— Charlie Gile (@CharlieGileNBC) October 23, 2020
Here we go… already a couple questions in, we haven’t heard any interruptions from the candidates and @kwelkernbc is taking command as well. Very different debate from the first one last month. @FOX13Memphis #Debates2020 pic.twitter.com/DxKveORknc
— Kirstin Garriss (@ReporterGarriss) October 23, 2020
Kristen Welker is doing a good job on top of this debate
— Alan Fisher (@AlanFisher) October 23, 2020
Kristen Welker did not come to play tonight
— Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) October 23, 2020