Inside the Right-Wing Media Echo Chamber’s Smear of NBC’s Kristen Welker

The smear campaign against Kristen Welker—who is moderating Thursday’s second and final presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden—began last Saturday with a hit piece by Trump-friendly New York Post reporter Jon Levine.

“Kristen Welker, upcoming presidential debate moderator, has deep Democrat ties,” screamed the headline, while Levine insinuated that the longtime NBC White House correspondent, a registered independent, must not only embrace the same politics as her parents—generous donors to Democratic causes and candidates—but that she also allows her parents’ beliefs to steer her journalism.