The Commission on Presidential Debates on Friday announced the moderators of the three presidential debates, as well as the one vice presidential debate.
Lester Holt, anchor of NBC Nightly News, will moderate the first presidential debate on Sept. 26 in Hempstead, New York. ABC’s Martha Raddatz and CNN’s Anderson Cooper will moderate the second debate on Oct. 9 in St. Louis. Chris Wallace of Fox News will moderate the third on Oct. 19 in Las Vegas.
Elaine Quijano, a CBS News correspondent and anchor for the network’s online broadcast platform CBSN, will moderate the lone vice presidential debate on Oct. 4 in Farmville, Virginia.
The selection of Wallace marks the first time a Fox News host has been chosen to moderate a general election presidential debate. Quijano will also be the first anchor of a digital network to moderate a presidential debate.
The moderators are chosen by CPD, which is non-partisan. On its website, the commission says that it chooses the moderators based on “familiarity with the candidates and the major issues of the presidential campaign, extensive experience in live television broadcast news; and c) an understanding that the debate should focus maximum time and attention on the candidates and their views.”
The picks come after a primary season in which GOP nominee Donald Trump claimed he was treated unfairly and refused to show up for one debate. He has floated the idea of not showing up for all of the presidential debates.
With the exception of the second presidential debate, which will be in a town hall format, each presidential debate will run from 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET without commercial breaks.
Before You Go
