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Kristen Welker praised for 'exceptional job' as moderator of presidential debate, Internet calls her 'winner'

'Basically @kwelkernbc was the hero tonight. She rocked that debate and made it feel almost Presidential,' wrote a user

Kristen Welker, the moderator of the final presidential debate of 2020 between Presidential Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, was lauded by social media on Thursday, October 22, for her moderating skills and navigating swiftly between the two candidates. Welker was praised after the prior two moderators of the presidential and vice-presidential debates of the year, Fox News' Chris Wallace and USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page, were both denounced for losing control of the debates.

Many social media users took to Twitter to note that the NBC News journalist was going a "crisp, professional job" while others wanted her to moderate all such debates in the future. There were many who concluded that if there was a clear winner of the debate tonight, it was Welker. Lawyer Joyce Alene wrote: "And, the winner tonight is @kwelkernbc. But @JoeBiden did a damn fine job too." Kay Angrum, host of 'Listen Up' on NBC 4 New York, wrote: "Kristen Welker is doing an exceptional job moderating. That’s it. That’s the tweet." Political scientist Norman Ornstein added: "Let’s give props to @kwelkernbc A really good, crisp professional job." NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Kasie Hunt noted Welker's hard work and wrote: "Kristen Welker has worked harder than everybody else every day of her life. She’s had to, obviously — but she’s gone way beyond that To see that honest hard work pay off in a business that too often rewards the wrong things gives me a little bit more faith in the world."

An MSNBC producer also quoted the network's Rachel Maddow as saying: "@maddow 'I think she's owed congratulations by the country. I think if there was a clear winner from this debate tonight, I don't know who would argue with that fact that it was, in fact, Kristen Welker'." Maddow reportedly also thought that Welker was consistently attacked during the debate by the president and that he owed her an apology. "—@BWilliams: "'Somebody owes our colleague Kristen Welker an apology." @maddow: "Yeah. She's owed an apology by the President, who attacked her over and over and over again heading into this event tonight .... She is owed an apology,'" one Twitter user quoted the conversation between Brian Williams and Maddow. 

Journalist Muhammad Lila wrote: "Tonight, America had the distinct privilege of watching an intelligent, articulate woman of color hold two elderly, white men to account for the failures in their leadership. Kristen Welker won this debate." One called Welker the "hero" of tonight's debate, adding: "Basically @kwelkernbc was the hero tonight. She rocked that debate and made it feel almost Presidential."

"So we all agree Kristen Welker is now in the regular Presidential debate rotation, right? Among many things, I liked that she asserted facts clearly in her questions to pin the candidates down but didn't try to fact check during the debate."

Before the debate, Welker had expressed her hope for a "substantive and good conversation" between the candidates on the debate stage. Social media users took Welker's stellar performance at the final debate to slam Chris Wallace again by drawing a comparison between their performances. Wallace reportedly said that he was "jealous" of Walker, adding that he "wished" he could have moderated the final debate, but his statement was met with criticism on social media, where users said he had the chance but he blew it. Page was slammed earlier this month for letting Vice President Mike Pence dominate her during the discourse by continuing to speak over her.