When President Barack Obama wanted to announce his newfound support for gay marriage, the White House sought out a reporter with a reputation for softball questions.
Politico reports that the White House selected ABC’s Robin Roberts for the interview because of her record of friendliness toward the administration and her slim political resumé:
Roberts was also viewed as a safe pick for the Obama administration, in part because she comes from the world of morning network television and rarely flexes any political muscle or attack-dog approach to journalism.
"She’s friendly turf," one executive at a rival network said. "I assume if Oprah was still Oprah, she would have landed this interview."
Before beginning her stint anchoring "Good Morning America," Roberts reported for ESPN.
It is not Obama’s first sit down with her. He granted his first inauguration interview to the reporter and has also used her program to talk about fatherhood.
Roberts discussed the interview Thursday with George Stephanopoulos:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: A little news from the president yesterday, and Robin what a watershed moment. Whatever people think about this issue, we know it’s controversial, there’s no denying when a president speaks out for the first time like that, it is history.
ROBIN ROBERTS: And let me tell you, George, I’m getting chills again, because when you sit in that room and you hear him say those historic words. It was not lost on anyone in that room.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And you didn’t know going in, you knew he was going to address this but you didn’t know exactly what he was going to say.
ROBERTS: You never know what he’s going to say until you ask him. And we did talk about other things as well.
On Election night in 2008, Chris Matthews infamously said hearing Obama speak gave him a "thrill up his leg."