TIME Donald Trump

Donald Trump Called Debate Moderator Lester Holt a Democrat. He’s Actually a Republican.

Holt is a registered Republican voter

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 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.

Your browser is out of date. Please update your browser at http://update.microsoft.com


YOU BROKE TIME.COM!

Dear TIME Reader,

As a regular visitor to TIME.com, we are sure you enjoy all the great journalism created by our editors and reporters. Great journalism has great value, and it costs money to make it. One of the main ways we cover our costs is through advertising.

The use of software that blocks ads limits our ability to provide you with the journalism you enjoy. Consider turning your Ad Blocker off so that we can continue to provide the world class journalism you have become accustomed to.

The TIME Team