What is a woman famous for bathing in a tub of Fruit Loops and milk doing interviewing the leader of the free world?
"I think there's a fair argument that the White House needs these YouTube personalities more than they need the White House," MSNBC host Ronan Farrow said.
The president and his top communications staff have not hid their desire to reach millennials. With the State of the Union address losing its luster in the 24/7 news cycle, the White House searched for a new way to reach young voters his party desperately needs to overturn the GOP wave that came in last November. That is why they teamed up with the likes of GloZell Green, Hank Green, and Bethany Mota.
"These three people collectively have 13 million regular subscribers. GloZell, her most popular video eating cinnamon out of a ladles, racked up more than 42 million views, Jose. That's not the kind of viewership you get in TV any more. By comparison, 31.7 million watched Tuesday's State of the Union on traditional TV. That's the lowest TV viewership for a State of the Union in 15 years, according to Neilson data we got in," Farrow said.
President Obama has drawn a sharp reaction to his decision to give these YouTube stars exclusive interviews just two days after giving his State of the Union address.
"Now, Megyn, I'm not some old media curmudgeon saying Obama shouldn't go on Ellen or The View or Colbert. He's got a good sense of humor, that's a political asset, but it just seemed beneath the dignity of the office to be hanging out with some of these YouTubers," Howard Kurtz said.