It appears that Cokie Roberts had a fan in the Obama family.
After the veteran ABC News journalist died Monday at age 75, former President Barack Obama hailed Roberts as a “trailblazing figure” and an inspirational icon.
“Michelle and I are sad to hear about the passing of Cokie Roberts,” he said in an emailed statement. “She was a trailblazing figure; a role model to young women at a time when the profession was still dominated by men; a constant over forty years of a shifting media landscape and changing world, informing voters about the issues of our time and mentoring young journalists every step of the way.”
“She will be missed ― and we send our condolences to her family.”
How a real President speaks about the death of an iconic journalist. pic.twitter.com/0lwYzqWuGI [1]
— Jodi (@jodotcom) September 17, 2019 [2]
Roberts got her start at CBS News in the 1970s, when women rarely occupied prominent roles in the newsroom. Despite those headwinds, she went on to become a decorated journalist, winning three Emmys.
In 2017, Roberts said she felt privileged to have had a career in the “front seat to history.”
The statement from Obama was a HUGE contrast from the current president’s response to Roberts’ death. Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that he “never met her,” and once again made a person’s death about himself.
“She never treated me nicely, but I would like to wish her family well. She was a professional and I respect professionals. … Never treated me well, but I certainly respect her,” Trump said, according to a pool report.
POTUS on the death of Cokie Roberts, via pool: “I never met her. She never treated me nicely. But I would like to wish her family well. She was a professional and I respect professionals. I respect you guys a lot, you people a lot. She was a real professional."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 17, 2019 [3]
Roberts riled up then-candidate Trump in a 2016 interview when she asked him about white children using his name to bully and intimidate Hispanic children. Trump called her question “nasty.”
.@realDonaldTrump [4] reacts to Cokie Roberts' question about kids using his name to taunt other kids https://t.co/1gW6cBnjiQ [5]
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) March 9, 2016 [6]