US presidential debate: Who is moderator Lester Holt?
US presidential debate: Who is moderator Lester Holt?
(about 17 hours later)
Monday night's US presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump could be the most-watched political event in decades.
Monday night's US presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is one of the most-talked about events of the year - and moderator Lester Holt found himself at the centre of it.
So who is the man asking the questions - and what does he have in store?
Half the country demanded he take a firm hand, and the rest were worried he might interfere - so how did he perform on the night?
High profile
What's in a handshake?
Lester Holt's CV includes major network shows such as Dateline NBC, Today, and his current role as anchor of NBC Nightly News, which attracts millions of viewers every night.
When the debate ended, and Donald Trump seemed to pause awkwardly before shaking Holt's hand - and social media exploded in speculation.
Mr Trump added to the suggestion he was unhappy with the moderator when he tweeted after the debate, apparently criticising the choice of questions.
"Nothing on emails. Nothing on the corrupt Clinton Foundation. And nothing on Benghazi," he said, citing three major criticisms his campaign levels against Mrs Clinton - though the email scandal was dealt with, very briefly.
Later, he told reporters Holt did "a great job".
Fact-checking furore
Holt had found himself facing problems before the debate even began.
Earlier this month, a fellow NBC journalist, Matt Lauer, failed to challenge Mr Trump's false statement that he opposed the war in Iraq.
That event led to a huge backlash, and a debate on how much fact-checking a moderator should do.
All eyes were on Holt to see how he would handle the candidate's answers.
Holt did, in fact, correct Donald Trump on his support for Iraq - telling him "the record shows otherwise" - but most media commentators felt he stayed out of the way for much of the debate.
"The biggest critique of Holt one could make ― and some did on social media ― was that he was too hands-off," opined the Huffington Post.
"Holt was almost invisible," wrote Fortune Magazine.
But not everyone saw it that way. The New York Post thought "he didn't know the meaning of impartial".
And former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, took issue with a policy which Holt pressured Trump on - one called stop-and-frisk.
"I think it's outrageous that Lester Holt interfered in a legal discussion he knows nothing about on the side of Hillary Clinton, and I didn't see him once interfere on the side of Donald Trump," Giuliani said.
"He should be ashamed of himself," he added, and suggested Trump "think long and hard" about the moderator before agreeing to future debates.
Republican bias?
Much criticism of Holt's performance has come from Trump supporters and the Republican party - despite Holt's vast experience.
His CV includes major network shows such as Dateline NBC, Today, and his current role as anchor of NBC Nightly News, which attracts millions of viewers every night.
That makes him a national celebrity, and well used to high-stakes TV.
That makes him a national celebrity, and well used to high-stakes TV.
He has already been accused of political bias, when Mr Trump labelled him a Democrat and complained about the "unfair system".
Before the debate, though, Mr Trump accused Holt of bias, labelling him a Democrat and complaining about the "unfair system".
But journalists checked voter records, and it turns out Holt is actually a registered Republican.
But journalists checked voter records, and it turns out Holt is actually a registered Republican.
However, with more interest in presidential politics than ever, Monday night's debate is poised to be a major national event.
Who's next?
Some are predicting it could attract 80 or even 100 million viewers - well over 10 times Holt's usual audience.
After Monday night's debate, the role of the moderator is still very much in the public eye.
Fact-checking furore
Martha Raddatz at ABC News and Anderson Cooper from CNN will jointly moderate the next debate on 9 October, and can expect to have their records scrutinised by both campaigns.
Holt also finds himself at the centre of a row about just what a moderator should - and should not - do.
Raddatz, ABC's Global News Correspondent, and has almost 20 years of experience reporting on foreign policy, the Pentagon, and the White House.
Earlier this month, a fellow NBC journalist, Matt Lauer, failed to challenge Mr Trump's false statement that he opposed the war in Iraq - which led to a huge backlash, and a debate on how much fact-checking a moderator should do.
Cooper, meanwhile, is a major news anchor at CNN, having fronted a number of mainstream news shows - including one bearing his own name - with over 20 years' experience.
Then, over the weekend, multiple news organisations published variations on a story, fact-checking hundreds of statements from both candidates.
The New York Times, Washington Post, and LA Times all accused both candidates of false statements - but each concluded that Mr Trump exaggerated or told untruths more frequently. Politico said Mr Trump's mishandling of facts "so greatly exceed [Mrs] Clinton's as to make the comparison almost ludicrous".
Mrs Clinton's campaign is calling for more fact-checking. Mr Trump wants the moderator to let the candidates fight it out themselves.
The truth - or lack of it - is a major issue in the campaign heading into the first debate, and Lester Holt will have to decide to what extent he challenges candidates on their statements.
Frank Fahrenkopf, the chair of the commission which organises the presidential debates, told the BBC that it is not the primary responsibility of the moderator to challenge perceived inaccuracies in what is essentially a debate rather than an interview.
"The candidates must work against each other," he said.
"If Donald Trump says something that's not right it's up to Mrs Clinton to correct it and vice versa."
"But if something is said that's blatantly wrong and goes uncorrected by the other party then the moderator has a difficult route to go.
"But they're not to be the judge, they're not to be the decider - that's what the debate is about - both parties are supposed to go at each other and the public will decide which one they are going to support."
Mr Fahrenkopf said that one thing is almost certain at the end of the debate - whoever loses is likely to blame the moderator.
Anchor experience
Only three topics have been announced for the 90-minute debate: America's direction," "achieving prosperity" and "securing America".
None of that tells us very much - but the remaining questions will be based on current events. And in his role as news anchor, Mr Holt has already interviewed both candidates and put tough questions to each.
"Secretary Clinton, you famously handed Russia's foreign minister a reset button in 2009," Holt asked Hilary Clinton earlier this year.
"Since then, Russia has annexed Crimea, fomented a war in Ukraine, provided weapons that downed an airliner and launched operations, as we just did discuss, to support Assad in Syria. As president, would you hand Vladimir Putin a reset button?"
And Mr Trump hasn't had an easy time of it with Mr Holt either. "You made some very bold claims ... that didn't stand up," he said after Mr Trump claimed Hillary Clinton was asleep during an attack on an American compound in Benghazi.
Then, he proceeded to ask for evidence of Mr Trump's claim that Mrs Clinton's email server had been hacked - which Mr Trump could not provide.
Denounced no matter what
As the debate has drawn closer, Lester Holt has found himself on the receiving end of analysis from fellow journalists.
Broadly, he has received the backing of his peers - but some doubt he will escape unscathed.
"I don't envy Lester Holt. No matter what he does in the first presidential debate, he'll be denounced," a columnist wrote in the Washington Post.
At NPR, David Folkenflik wrote: "surely an anchor such as Lester Holt does not abdicate his duties as a truth-seeker and a journalist by serving as a debate moderator."
And writing for CNN, Dylan Byers said "he is one of the most focused and hardworking personalities in television news, with 35 years' experience and, in all that time, not a controversy to speak of."
But with the heated rhetoric on both sides of the campaign, Holt could find himself in the centre of a controversy no matter what he does.
