Nightly News anchor Lestor Holt will be the moderator of the first presidential debate, which will be held at Hofstra University.
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Democratic VP pick Tim Kaine, senator from Virginia, and Republican VP contender Mike Pence, governor of in, will meet at Longwood University in Farmville, Va.
ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz and CNN’s Anderson Cooper will moderate the second debate October 9. Chris Wallace is, I believe, the first person from Fox News to be selected to moderate one of these debates, although he technically isn’t a Fox News Channel host since his program Fox News Sunday airs primarily on Fox’s broadcast stations on Sunday mornings before being replayed later in the day on the cable network.
The third and final presidential debate is scheduled for Wednesday, October 19th, at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. In 1960, for example, John F. Kennedy was a little-known MA senator until he challenged Vice President Richard Nixon in the first-ever televised US general election presidential debate.
But according to the New York Times, Trump is taking a more laid back approach to his first debate.
On Friday, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced the journalists who have been selected to moderate the three political events. Holt’s telecast has consistently topped competing news programs on ABC and CBS, and in June, was awarded the Edward R. Murrow award for best Newscast.
The rules stipulate that candidates will have two minutes to answer the question, but moderators can use an additional minute to further the conversation.
Raddatz moderated the vice-presidential debate in 2012, and MRC research director Rich Noyes noted the questions had a 19-12 tilt toward the Democrats: “Raddatz showed nearly no bias in her foreign policy questions, which split down the middle: eight pro-Romney vs. seven pro-Obama (not counting the neutrals)”.
Chris Wallace of Fox News. “We are grateful for their willingness to moderate, and confident that the public will learn more about the candidates and the issues as a result”.
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The Commission on Presidential Debates, which selects the moderators, has long worked in secrecy, and network executives have said for months that they were unsure which anchors would be chosen. A recent Morning Consult poll showed Kelly as the second most-desired pick to moderate a debate, behind Cooper. The first presidential debate in the 2012 election drew around 70 million viewers. He says he might seek to negotiate some details, fueling speculation he could choose to skip one or all of the debates.
