NBC News names moderators for first Democratic primary debates

NBC News will have five moderators for the first 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate, set for June 26 and 27 in Miami.

The network announced Tuesday that “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt would be on stage for the two-hour events on both nights at the Adrienne Arsht Center. The events will air on NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo.

In the first hour of each night, Holt will be joined by “NBC Nightly News Saturday” and “Noticias Telemundo” anchor Jose Diaz-Balart and “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. The second hour will have Holt, “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd and MSNBC prime-time host Rachel Maddow.

In total, 20 declared Democratic candidates will participate in the event, with 10 taking the stage each night. The format will be the same on both nights.

Candidates need to have 1% support in three qualified polls or have 65,000 unique campaign donors, with a minimum of 200 different donors in at least 20 states, to qualify for the debate. Should more than 20 candidates meet the criteria, the Democratic National Committee will use a series of tiebreakers to determine who makes it onto the stage.