NBC names moderators for first Democratic presidential primary debate

NBC News on Tuesday announced the five moderators for the first Democratic presidential debate that is set later this month in Miami.

The debate moderators are Lester Holt of “NBC Nightly News,” Savannah Guthrie of “Today,” Chuck Todd of “Meet the Press,” Rachel Maddow of MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” and José Diaz-Balart of “Noticias Telemundo” and “NBC Nightly News Saturday.”

The debate is scheduled for two nights on June 26 and 27. A total of 20 candidates will participate, with 10 taking the stage each night at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami.

The lineup of moderators will be the same for both nights.

Mr. Holt will host the entire two-hour debate on both nights. Ms. Guthrie and Mr. Diaz-Balart will join him for the first hour, and Mr. Todd and Ms. Maddow will moderate the second hour, NBC News said.

To qualify for the debate, Democratic National Committee required candidates either get 1% support in at least three polls or collect 65,000 individual contributions spread across 20 states.

There are currently 24 announced candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination.

If more than 20 candidates qualify, the DNC will use a ranking system to measure both polling and grass-roots fundraising to decide who makes the cut.

The same qualifying criteria will be used for the second debate on July 30 and 31 in Detroit, which will be hosted by CNN.

The DNC recently raised the bar to qualify for the third debate set for Sept. 12 and 13, requiring candidates to meet both the polling and fund-raising thresholds to secure a podium.