Biography

March 8, 1959 · Marin County, California, USA

Lester Don Holt Jr.

6′ 2″ (1.88 m)

Deep baritone voice

My general philosophy of doing interviews is polite but persistent. I don't have an axe to grind in this, but I do have the responsibility to represent my viewers who have a lot of questions. People say to me, "I hope you get him!" I don't do that. I just want to talk to people and ask them. And if they don't give an answer, I want to ask them again.

[on moderating the first Trump-Clinton debate in 2016] It was the most difficult thing I've ever done professionally or maybe even personally. There several deep breaths at the end of it...It was difficult to read the email the next day, because it was split. It was like "Awesome job, terrific job"."You're a loser, you're pathetic!" But it was part of the process. I knew going in: not everyone's going to love you.

We all have to be reminded of where we came from and how we got here and the doors that were opened up. Certainly, as an African-American, those doors were opened up through a lot of sacrifice. It's reminded me of the shoulders that I stand on, that I had the opportunity to do whatever I wanted in life.