Right outraged Obama attended VP debate moderator’s wedding

ABC News confirmed on Wednesday that President Obama was a guest at the 1991 wedding of ABC News senior foreign affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz, who is set to moderate the vice presidential debate Thursday night between Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

The news, which was first reported by the conservative website The Daily Caller, prompted howls of disapproval from conservatives, who questioned whether Raddatz will be a neutral moderator.

{mosads}In a statement, an ABC News spokesman called accusations that Raddatz has a conflict of interest “absurd.”

There is no evidence that Obama and Raddatz are close, but the president is friends with her now-ex-husband, Julius Genachowski.

Genachowski was a classmate with Obama at Harvard Law School, and both worked on the Harvard Law Review. Genachowski advised Obama during his 2008 presidential run, and now chairs the Federal Communications Commission.

Genachowski and Raddatz had a son together but divorced in 1997. They have both re-married.

The Daily Caller first drew attention to the fact that Raddatz was married to an Obama administration appointee in August, but ABC News declined to comment at the time.

A spokesman for Ryan, Michael Steel, told Fox News on Wednesday the GOP campaign has “no concern” with Raddatz moderating the debate. 

Raddatz, who has won four Emmy Awards and a Peabody, covered the White House during the George W. Bush administration and has traveled extensively covering international conflicts.

“Martha Raddatz is known for her tough, fair reporting, which is why it was no surprise to her colleagues inside and outside ABC News that she was chosen by the Commission on Presidential Debates for this assignment,” ABC said. “Barack Obama was a law school classmate of Raddatz’s ex-husband Julius Genachowski at Harvard. At the time Barack Obama was a student and president of the Law Review. He attended their wedding over two decades ago along with nearly the entire Law Review, many of whom went onto successful careers including some in the Bush administration.”

The ABC News spokesman added that one of the classmates in attendance was Bradford Berenson, who served as an associate White House counsel under former President George W. Bush.

This story was updated at 1:55 p.m.