--- title: Presidential Debates: Donald Trump Is Wrong on Lester Holt description: Republican nominee Donald Trump called first presidential debate moderator "a Democrat" despite public records that indicate otherwise. canonical: https://time.com/4501616/donald-trump-debate-lester-holt-democrat/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-20T18:40:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:47:34.968Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Inaccurately Calls Debate Moderator a 'Democrat' og:description: He's actually a registered Republican. og:url: https://time.com/4501616/donald-trump-debate-lester-holt-democrat/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e99c4a487b267db/6988a4b8fb4eac442c88ef96/debate-moderators.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2087 og:image:height: 1174 og:image:alt: debate-moderators og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Inaccurately Calls Debate Moderator a 'Democrat' twitter:description: He's actually a registered Republican. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5e99c4a487b267db/6988a4b8fb4eac442c88ef96/debate-moderators.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Called Debate Moderator Lester Holt a Democrat. He's Actually a Republican. > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=82c1ab12-0833-4c74-9cd3-4c091f6b069f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: What A Clinton vs Trump Debate Might Look Like [Watch (HLS stream): What A Clinton vs Trump Debate Might Look Like](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jeUYQHqg.m3u8) (2:04)  _Published 2016-03-31_ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Sep 20, 2016 6:40 PM UTC by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Sep 20, 2016 6:40 PM UTC Republican nominee Donald Trump called first presidential debate moderator, NBC News anchor Lester Holt, “a Democrat” Monday, despite public records that indicate otherwise. New York State voter registration documents show that Holt has been a registered Republican in the state since 2003. Trump’s comments to Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, which were offered without any evidence to support the claim, are part of a time-honored tradition of alleging moderator bias and expectations-setting before a presidential debate. “By the way, Lester is a Democrat. It’s a phony system. They are all Democrats. It’s a very unfair system,” Trump said of the debate moderators. The NBC newsman, regarded by both parties as a straight shooter, is set to moderate the first debate on Sept. 26. Trump has not been alone in criticizing the objectivity of debate moderators. Hillary Clinton’s campaign sent out a pair of fundraising appeals off NBC anchor Matt Lauer’s performance anchoring a back-to-back candidate town hall earlier this month. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, who is set to moderate the third debate, is a longtime registered Democrat, which he has [explained](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101001509.html) as a matter of pragmatism as a resident of Democrat-dominated Washington, D.C. Public records searches for the remaining debate moderators returned no partisan affiliation. Spokespeople for NBC did not respond to requests for comment on Trump’s attack or Holt’s voter registration. ## Transcript I beat Hillary Clinton in many polls, the queue poll just came out. America didn't stop being great. We have to make it whole again. I'm the only one that beats Hillary Clinton. I have not started on Hillary yet. Believe me, I will start soon. [ APPLAUSE ] I haven't even started. If you don't get an actual check From the Mexican government for 8 or 10 or $ 12 billion, whatever it will cost. How are you going to make them pay for the wall? I will. He's talking about a very tall wall. And the wall just got ten feet taller. That would run the entire border. Paid for by Mexico. That he would somehow get the Mexican government to pay for. We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. You know it's just Fantasy. [ NOISE ] I would work quickly to present to the Congress my plans for raising the minimum wage. Taxes too high, wages too high. Well, you know both Bill and I have been very blessed, neither of us came from wealthy families, and we've worked really hard our entire lives. I took one million dollars and I turned it into Okay, one million ten billion dollars. I've come up with a tax plan that many, many people like Now- Very. [ NOISE ] They may not care much about their lives, but they do care, believe it or not, about their family's lives. [ APPLAUSE ] A diplomacy is not about getting to the perfect solution- We need tough people, we need toughness. It's about how you balance the risk. I would bring back water boarding. And I'd bring back a helluva lot worse, than what we're boarding. We will not send American combats groups back to Syria or Iraq, that is off the table. We talk about Iran and that's one of the worst deals ever made I'm asking people to support me because I think I'm the most qualified, most experienced and ready person to be the President. If I'm elected to be President We will win and we will win and we will win. Thank you. [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4501616/donald-trump-debate-lester-holt-democrat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4501616/donald-trump-debate-lester-holt-democrat/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Called Debate Moderator Lester Holt a Democrat. 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