Answer: He is a quiz show host-turned-political debate moderator.
If you said, “Who is Alex Trebek?” you’d be right – the “Jeopardy!” host will moderate a gubernatorial debate in Pennsylvania a month prior to the general election.
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry announced on Tuesday that it has extended an invitation to the 2018 gubernatorial candidates for a 45-minute debate at their 34th annual Chamber Dinner this October. Trebek will also serve as the dinner’s keynote speaker.
Chamber President and CEO Gene Barr said in a statement that Trebek’s “background hosting one of America’s most beloved television quiz shows make him uniquely qualified to moderate what is sure to be a lively and informative gubernatorial debate.”
Trebek was born in Canada and became a naturalized citizen in 1998. In an email to Salon, Trebek described himself as “a social liberal and a fiscal conservative.” He also told The Hill he thought the 2016 presidential race was “very disappointing on both sides.”
The host also told the Hill that he’d “love” to moderate a presidential debate.
“Unlike some of the other moderators – I’m not going to disparage them – but I have a different approach,” he said in 2013. “I would not let the politicians get away with standard responses. I would try to pin them down, even though I might look bad doing it.”
Last month, Trebek returned to filming “Jeopardy” after he went on a medical leave to recover from surgery to remove blood clots from his brain, a complication from hitting his head in October.