NBC's Lester Holt Is A First time Debate Moderator

Lester Holt

Lester Holt will enter one of the most pressure-packed environments of his journalistic career on Monday when he referees the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, according to The Hill.

For the 57-year-old NBC anchor, it’s the first time moderating a presidential debate.

And given the high stakes, both campaigns will be scrutinizing Holt closely to make sure that he calls things down the middle.

The harsh criticism endured by NBC and “Today Show” anchor Matt Lauer when he moderated a forum featuring Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton only raised the bar for Monday’s moderator.

The California native is no stranger to pressure. But the kind of pressure he'll be facing with potentially 100 million people watching will be a whole new level few in the broadcast journalism ever feel.

The Clinton camp is calling on Holt to actively fact-check Trump, while the Republican nominee says it's not the job of a moderator to ask questions, follow-up questions and fact check on the fly.

Jennefer Witter, CEO of the public relations firm Boreland Group in New York, says the moderator can improvise but only when clearly warranted.

“Holt needs to listen to the candidates' responses and delve deeper if they are vague, unclear or simply dodging the question,” says Witter. “He can go off-script and build questions out of the candidates' own replies. This will provide more thoughtful answers or demonstrate areas of weakness.”

Trump, who had said nothing but nice things about Holt in interviews, recently accused Holt of being a Democrat on “The O'Reilly Factor” on Fox News.   Holt actually has been a registered Republican since 2003.

Holt became the anchor of NBC News after Brian Williams was suspended for lying about being fired upon in a helicopter during the Iraq War.

Instead of shepherding the end of NBC Nightly News’s 19-year run as the most-watched evening news program, Holt has carried it forward. Since Holt took over in June of 2015 permanently, Nightly News has enjoyed some of its highest numbers in a long time while adding a 20th year to its streak.

Holt began his broadcast career right after Ronald Reagan took office in 1981 in New York, landing a job at a local CBS affiliate. A few years later, he would move to Chicago to begin a 14-year run on Chicago's popular WBBM 780 AM radio as a reporter and news anchor.

He was in his 40s when NBC News in New York came calling to sign him as a television reporter.

He’s an accomplished bass guitar player who has performed with Earth, Wind and Fire. His favorite way to relax is to fly from Los Angeles to San Francisco on his flight simulator, his #1 bucket list item is to run with the bulls in Pamplona and he speaks fluent Italian.