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Women historically not assigned to moderate first presidential debate slot

Data: Commission on Presidential Debates/Axios Research; Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios

Women have historically not been awarded the first debate moderator slot, even though more women have been selected to moderate debates in recent history.

The state of play: The one exception is Barbara Walters of ABC News, who moderated the first presidential debate in 1984 between Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democratic former Vice President Walter Mondale.

  • In the past five cycles, women have been awarded the Vice Presidential debate moderator slot, but only three women — Martha Raddatz of ABC News, Candy Crowley of CNN, and Kristen Welker of NBC News— have been awarded a presidential debate moderator position.
  • An all-female panel moderated the November 20th Democratic primary debate — only the third time that's happened in U.S. history, per Vox.

Go deeper

Alayna Treene, author of Sneak Peek
Jan 6, 2021 - Politics & Policy

Scoop: Trump schedules more medal ceremonies

President Trump awards the Medal of Freedom to golfer Tiger Woods in May 2019. This week he will award it to three more athletes. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Trump will award three athletes the Medal of Freedom on Thursday, including a posthumous award to two-time Olympic gold medalist Babe Zaharias, according to White House officials.

Why it matters: The ceremony is part of Trump's final awards spree in the remaining days of his presidency. On Monday, he awarded the Medal of Freedom to House Republican Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). He's scheduled to dole out the same honor to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) next week.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Orion Rummler
1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

DOJ watchdog to probe whether officials sought to alter election results

Donald and Melania Trump exit Air Force One in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 20. Photo: Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images

The Justice Department's inspector general will investigate whether any current or former DOJ officials "engaged in an improper attempt to have DOJ seek to alter the outcome" of the 2020 election, the agency announced Monday.

Driving the news: The investigation comes in the wake of a New York Times report that alleged Jeffrey Clark, the head of DOJ's civil division, had plotted with President Trump to oust acting Attorney General Jeffery Rosen in a scheme to overturn the election results in Georgia.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
2 hours ago - Podcasts

Google's chief health officer Karen DeSalvo on vaccinating America

Google on Monday became the latest Big Tech company to get involved with COVID-19 vaccinations. Not just by doing things like incorporating vaccination sites into its maps, but by helping to turn some of its offices and parking lots into vaccination sites.

Axios Re:Cap goes deeper into what Google is doing, and why now, with Dr. Karen DeSalvo, Google's chief health officer who previously worked at HHS and as health commissioner for New Orleans.