Biden praises Welker on debate performance

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden praised NBC’s Kristen Welker on Thursday night following his 90-minute debate with President Trump, telling reporters that the White House correspondent “did a great job” in helping to produce a “much more rational debate.”

“I felt good about it and I thought the moderator did a great job of making it run smoothly and so it was … much more rational debate than the first one,” the former vice president said in response to a question about the debate. “Got a chance to speak to the American public more, so thank you all very much.”

Trump himself praised Welker for her performance during the debate, even though before the proceedings he had suggested she would be biased against him.

“By the way so far I respect very much the way you’re handling this, I have to say,” Trump said during the debate. 

At a rally in Wisconsin last week, Trump complained to supporters that Welker is “extremely unfair.” Earlier this week, he accused her of being a “radical Democrat.”

A number of observers in the media also complimented Welker’s work.

Kristen Welker deserves a lot of praise for how she moderated that debate tonight. She kept order, asked pertinent follow-up questions, and didn’t make it about herself.

— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) October 23, 2020

Kristen Welker is putting on a master class in how to moderate a presidential debate #boss https://t.co/wMurDJk5Sx

— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) October 23, 2020

Kristen Welker is firm, focused, and puts up with exactly zero malarkey.

— Monica Hesse (@MonicaHesse) October 23, 2020