![\"Welker](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-891119938-inline.jpg\")
\nWelker speaking on camera before a White House press briefing as Fox\u2019s John Roberts looks on in 2017. Photo credit:\u00a0SAUL LOEB\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s Sunday, it\u2019s \u2018Meet the Press.\u2019\u201d For decades, those words, spoken by the NBC program\u2019s moderator each week, have signaled to millions of viewers looking to learn more about the key political battles of the moment \u2013 and the elected and appointed officials on the front lines \u2013 that they\u2019re in the right place.<\/p>\n
Since 2023, the person speaking those words \u2013 and interviewing presidents, mayors and anyone else playing a crucial role in the state of the union and beyond \u2013 has been Kristen Welker, the second woman and first journalist of color to helm the longest-running show in television history (the show premiered in 1947).<\/p>\n
Welker\u2019s current gig is just the latest and most high-profile in a career that includes moderating presidential debates, covering presidential administrations, hosting \u201cWeekend Today,\u201d and writing for The Earthquake, the student newspaper at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
The Philadelphia native \u2013 whose Instagram account lists her \u201cMeet the Press\u201d role first and her \u201cPhilly girl\u201d status second \u2013 sat down with City & State to discuss hometown heroes, the relationship between the media and the public, the midterms and more.<\/p>\n
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n
What do you carry with you from your Philadelphia upbringing?<\/p>\n
Growing up in Philadelphia, you were reminded over and over that it is the birthplace of our democracy, so I was infused with a sense of pride in the city. My parents were active participants in the community \u2013 my mom\u2019s a realtor, my dad\u2019s an engineer. When I was growing up, my mom would take me to meetings with her, particularly the women\u2019s groups that she was a part of that honored African Americans. We would always go to the city-wide lunch honoring Martin Luther King Jr. And I remember one year, I actually met Rosa Parks; that is a moment that has stayed with me forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I was in high school, my mom ran for Philadelphia City Council. She didn\u2019t win, but I got to see what a campaign was like. I had a front-row seat to that entire process, and I think all those different factors combined to make me the woman, the mom, and the journalist I am. Constantly hearing from and interacting with women, people of color, who would set goals for themselves, break barriers and serve as inspirations in their own communities, really set me on a path to engage with my community. It sparked my love of journalism and politics. The lesson from all of it was that you have to be an active participant in your community and in the world around you. I take that very seriously, and it\u2019s part of what I really strive to do every day.<\/p>\n
How does your early work experience influence your current role?<\/p>\n
My first on-air job was in Redding, California. My news director at the time said that it was like graduate school with a stipend. It was an extraordinary experience, both in terms of the friendships that I formed there and the lessons that I learned. I operated my own camera, I edited everything, I was the weekend anchor. I would write and edit the entire show, and operate the teleprompter with my foot. I even did the weather there for a period of time. I came to understand the inner workings of broadcast news, but more importantly, I gained a deeper understanding of journalism\u2019s role as a foundational principle of our democracy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I raised my hand to cover every political story, which, in Redding meant covering something called \u201cbrown-bag City Council lunches,\u201d where people in the community would bring their brown bag lunches and sit down to talk with the mayor and the members to express their concerns and desires. One of the big debates was over whether to build a community pool. And in some ways, what was happening in Redding was, on a smaller scale, what I cover in Washington today: these debates about what kind of world we want to live in and how we can be active participants. Everything I learned in Redding stays with me to this very day: You have to stick to the basics \u2013 the who, what, when, where, why, of the story \u2013 and hold elected officials to account.<\/p>\n
An October 2025 Gallup poll showed that public trust in media had dropped to 28%, down from 40% just five years ago. How did we get here, and what can be done to change that trajectory?<\/p>\n
I think people are losing faith in their institutions, broadly speaking, and the media is part of that. I think part of why we\u2019re seeing that is because there\u2019s a lot of misinformation and disinformation online; there\u2019s a very fractured media ecosystem. It\u2019s the challenge of our time to help restore faith in journalism. There is no more important goal, so: How do we do that?\u00a0<\/p>\n
One way is to hold ourselves to the highest standards. We try to never get it wrong. And I know that every journalist feels that way. Every good journalist wants to get it right and make sure they are providing the best version of the truth to the American public \u2013 and if we do get it wrong, we have to say so. I\u2019ve had one moment on \u201cMeet the Press\u201d where I made a mistake, and I had to painfully come out and admit it. We quickly decided it was important to come out and acknowledge the mistake and move on. When you do that, you\u2019re sending a message to the audience that we care about getting it right. We take this really seriously. We\u2019re going to hold elected officials to account, and we\u2019re going to hold ourselves to account as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nWelker speaking on camera before a White House press briefing as Fox\u2019s John Roberts looks on in 2017. Photo credit:\u00a0SAUL LOEB\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also about making sure we are hearing from a wide range of voices. Every Sunday, we often have three guests because the conversations we\u2019re having are so complex and robust, and we want to make sure we\u2019re hearing from as many voices and perspectives as possible. It might be someone they agree with or someone they disagree with, but if they can listen to the conversation, I think that takes a step toward hopefully repairing that trust.<\/p>\n
Last month, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss held an all-hands meeting in which she said CBS News was \u201cnot doing enough to meet audiences where they are, so they\u2019re leaving us.\u201d How does the continuing migration away from mainstream media to alternative information sources affect your approach to what you do?<\/p>\n
I do think we have a responsibility as journalists right now to meet viewers where they are, and I think we have been doing that at NBC News, both through our on-air product and our streaming product, NBC News NOW, where I anchor \u201cMeet the Press Now\u201d three days a week. We\u2019re incredibly proud of that broadcast, which allows me to continue the conversations that we\u2019re having on Sunday throughout the course of the week \u2013 it allows viewers to pick up their phones and to watch our broadcast at any time, in any place.<\/p>\n
Before I step off the air on Sundays, our team \u2013 we are a small but mighty team \u2013 is posting content to social media so that people can see some of the most significant exchanges that have happened on the program. We are constantly thinking about: \u201cHow do we meet people exactly where they are?\u201d We\u2019re doing that both in how we share our content and in the content we provide.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Does anyone say no to an interview with you?<\/p>\n
Absolutely. People say no every week, but we don\u2019t give up. We pursue guests vigorously, from a place of wanting them to share their perspectives and making sure we\u2019re hearing from a broad array of voices. Our guiding light is Martin Luther King, Jr. It took \u201cMeet the Press\u201d three years to book him (for his first appearance on the show in 1960). Part of the reason for that was because at the time, there were so many security concerns around having him do an appearance on the show. They never gave up then, and we don\u2019t give up now on booking guests who we think are fundamental to the broader conversation we\u2019re having. That first interview with Martin Luther King, Jr. is a guiding light for us that we can never give up on trying to get to yes with the guests that we want to interview.<\/p>\n
![\"Welker](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-1229229573-inline.jpg\")
\nWelker speaks with then-presidential candidate Joe Biden at the 2020 debate she moderated. Photo credit: JIM WATSON\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
In 2024, you saw the key issues in the election as being the economy, abortion rights and gun control and climate change. What do you think the key issues are going to be for the midterms?<\/p>\n
I think the biggest issue for the midterms is going to be affordability. We find that in election after election, going back decades, and we have seen both parties try to shift their messaging around. You saw that in some of the off-year elections \u2013 the gubernatorial races, certainly in New Jersey and Virginia, and in the mayor\u2019s race in New York City. You\u2019re starting to see that in some of the primary races, where candidates are putting affordability front and center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What I\u2019ll be watching for closely in these midterms is, how do these candidates deal with the Trump agenda? What we\u2019re seeing, for example, in Minneapolis: How do Republicans talk about that? How do Democrats talk about that? How much do they make that a part of their platform, as compared to the issue of affordability? How do we see the various issues get juggled?<\/p>\n
You could make the case that in 2024, Democrats got a little sidetracked from their message that was focused on the economy. They started to focus on Trump. And in hindsight, several strategists say there wasn\u2019t enough focus on the economy, which remains the No. 1 issue based on all our polling. People still feel like they don\u2019t have enough money in their pockets. So, how do the candidates, whether it\u2019s in Pennsylvania or other battleground states, choose to talk about those critical issues?<\/p>\n
What can the midterms tell us about the 2028 election cycle?<\/p>\n
In addition to seeing if Democrats can win back the House and\/or the Senate \u2013 and there are obviously a lot of important congressional races in Pennsylvania that will determine that, like the Ryan Mackenzie race and the Rob Bresnahan race, just to name a few \u2013 is that 2026 is, in many ways, going to be a dress rehearsal for 2028. Gov. Josh Shapiro is running for reelection, and we\u2019ll be watching very closely to see what he does in this campaign cycle. I had the opportunity to interview him and I asked him point-blank: Are you running for president in 2028? He said, \u201cI\u2019m focused on my reelection campaign.\u201d So he didn\u2019t rule it out, which I thought was very notable. And he\u2019s obviously been someone who has been on the national stage for quite some time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the things that will be fascinating about 2028 is that it will be the first open presidential race since 2016. From a political journalist\u2019s perspective, it doesn\u2019t get more exciting. I think there\u2019s going to be a crowded field on both sides. In addition to Gov. Shapiro, if he does decide to run, we\u2019re watching the other governors very closely. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker \u2026 certainly the senators, including Sen. Mark Kelly, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, could decide to run. On the Republican side, I think it\u2019s incredibly dynamic as well. You have Vice President JD Vance, but notably, when I\u2019ve interviewed President Trump, I\u2019ve asked him who is going to take the baton, he says, \u201cLook, of course, the Vice President is someone who\u2019s at the top of the list,\u201d but he also mentions Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who\u2019s taken on a huge portfolio with his role in the Trump administration. And then there are other names to watch, like Sen. Ted Cruz, who\u2019s been very outspoken. It\u2019s going to be an exciting political cycle, with that big question: Do Democrats regain their momentum coming off of really tough losses in 2024?<\/p>\n
How do you stay informed?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I try to read as much as I possibly can throughout the course of the day. Sometimes that\u2019s a little challenging before I get to work because I have two young children, a 4-year-old and an 18-month-old. I try to set my alarm before they get up, but I\u2019m not always effective at waking up before them. The second \u2013 and arguably the most important \u2013 part is staying in touch with my sources, whom I\u2019ve developed since I first arrived in Washington.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been here since 2011, when I covered the Obama administration, and I\u2019m constantly on the phone. This is not just about crafting interviews for Sunday. I\u2019m always talking to sources, trying to infuse my own reporting into my interviews and the show, and contributing to the reporting our team of political reporters at NBC is working on. I think that\u2019s one of the most important ways of staying informed, because you\u2019re literally keeping your finger on the pulse of what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n
Last month, following the devastating shooting death of Alex Pretti, one of the people I reached out to was one of my best law enforcement sources to help me to understand, from the perspective of a former law enforcement official, what we are looking at so that I could have confidence to discuss the video when I interviewed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about it. If I\u2019m doing a segment on the economy, I often reach out to economists. If I\u2019m doing a segment on foreign policy, I try to reach out to people who\u2019ve worked on those specific issues so that I have a deeper understanding, beyond what\u2019s been reported throughout the course of the week, of what\u2019s actually happening, so that someone can say to me, \u201cLook, if I were you, these are some of the big issues I\u2019d be thinking about heading into this meeting.\u201d That really helps broaden my approach to any discussion I have on Sunday.<\/p>\n
How do you unplug?\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I finish the show on Sunday, I get off the set and start making phone calls for the following Sunday. But when I walk through the door of my house, I try to put the phone down. I have my 4-year-old daughter, Margo, my 18-month-old son, John Zachary, my husband, John \u2026 I try to just be present with them, because we work on the weekends. I have Mondays and Tuesdays off, which is wonderful, and I can spend quality time with the kids. I try to have mommy-Margo afternoons with my daughter after she gets out of school, where I take her to do something special and take her to her gym class. Our dinner time is also so important: It teaches my kids that when I\u2019m with them, I don\u2019t have my phone, and it\u2019s important for me mentally, because it helps me to recharge so that I can bring 150% when I go back to work on Wednesdays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIf it\u2019s Sunday, it\u2019s \u2018Meet the Press.\u2019\u201d For decades, those words, spoken by the NBC program\u2019s moderator each…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3444,12756,2156,28,30,29,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-122214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-campaigns-elections","9":"tag-interviews-profiles","10":"tag-news-politics","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","13":"tag-pennsylvania-news","14":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}