Who is Lester Holt’s replacement, Tom Llamas, the journalist taking over from the long-time NBC Nightly News host? The first Latino to present the show has reported on Trump, Israel and the Olympics
Emmy-winning broadcaster Llamas, who has also worked for ABC, has reported on US and global news, including the Israel-Gaza war, Ukraine, the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and the 2024 Olympics
Llamas will anchor the network’s flagship programme as well as his streaming news broadcast, while Holt focuses on weekly news magazine show Dateline NBC, says AP.
Speaking about the appointment, NBC news’ executive vice-president of programming, Janelle Rodriguez, said, “Tom has the winning combination of journalistic excellence, passionate storytelling and unyielding integrity – all characteristics that have long been trademarks of NBC Nightly News.” Llamas himself considers the new position a “profound honour and one that carries tremendous responsibility”.
What is Tom Llamas’ background?
According to the Los Angeles Times, Tom Llamas is the son of Cuban parents who fled to the US during Fidel Castro’s rule. He was born and brought up in Miami. In an interview with HuffPost, he proudly reflected on his family’s struggles. “They left a country where they had jobs and were successful and came here not speaking the language and had no money,” he said. “To start from scratch is just amazing, but they did it and put their kids through college.”
Llamas will become the first Latino journalist to host the weekday edition of NBC Nightly News, CNN noted.
According to his ABC News biography, Llamas attended Loyola University in New Orleans, graduating with a degree in broadcast journalism and drama and speech, then briefly attended the University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies.