By Al Edwards

Kristen Welker was the moderator of the final 2020 US presidential debate and she did a fantastic job which has been acknowledged by many.

She remained firm but fair and kept it moving along at a brisk pace. She saw to it that this time out it did not descend into the fiasco and chaos that occurred during the first debate moderated by Fox News’ Chris Wallace.

Even President Trump, both during and after the debate, praised her moderating skills.

Our Today has put together some facts you need to know about Kristen:

1.  She was born in Philadelphia in 1976. Her mother is a real estate professional and her father is an engineer. She has no siblings.

2. She is a career journalist who started out at ABC. She joined NBC in 2005 and has been that network’s White House Correspondent since 2011. Kristen makes regular appearances on MSNBC and is well respected by her peers.

3. She is the co-host of NBC’s Weekend Today.

4. She graduated from Harvard University  in 1998 with a BA.

5. She won plaudits for her work on the trail with the Hillary Clinton campaign back in 2016.

6. She married marketing executive John Hughes in 2017.

7. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

8.  On what makes a good journalist, she once said: “Journalists like to talk and write and produce, but the most important part of that process is learning how to listen. And that’s what makes you a good journalist.”

9. President Trump on Kristen’s big night: “By the way, so far I respect very much the way you’re handling this, I have to say.”

10. Former Vice President Biden on Kristen’s big night: “I felt good about it and thought the moderator did a great job of making it run smoothly and so it was.. a much more rational debate than the first one.”