Vice Presidential Debate Moderator Hosted Obama Wedding: Conflict of Interest?
Vice presidential debate moderator Martha Raddatz has come under question after it was brought forward that she and her husband hosted President Obama at their wedding in 1991.
Raddatz will be the moderator for tonight's Vice Presidential debate, which some publications have pointed out is a conflict of interest. Raddatz's husband also attended the Obama's wedding just a year after, in 1992. Despite the fact that both weddings were more than 20 years ago, the Daily Caller pointed to the fact that the same protocol would not be followed in court.
"If Raddatz were a judge," a reporter wrote for the publication, "she'd likely have to recuse herself from cases pertaining to the Obamas."
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The publication went on to state that the public had the "right to know the facts about Raddatz's relationship to the president. In return, ABC confirmed the relationship and responded back with their own statement and defended Raddatz's position.
"This is nothing but a shameful attempt to smear a well-respected and courageous reporter who is admired by generals, journalists and millions of Americans who count on Martha Raddatz to tell it like it is," an ABC News spokeswoman said in a statement to FoxNews.com. "She has traveled dozens of times to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and reports with neither fear nor favor."
The statement also charged the Daily Caller with attempting to use the information simply to generate web traffic to their site.
"This reckless and pitiful attempt to attack Martha in the lead-up to the VP debate is nothing more than a desperate play for web traffic and attention when what the American public wants is a thoughtful and probing debate on the great issues of the day," the statement said.
Raddatz is married to Julius Genachowski, who is a former classmate of the president. Fox News pointed out that such connections were hardly unlikely. A spokesperson from ABC also confirmed that the Commission on Presidential Debates was aware of the relationship before considering Raddatz as a moderator.
