I've been asked how the interview with The President came about. Here's the "behind the scenes" look.....
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I looked at my phone, and the email , from someone I did not know, said simply “Please call ASAP regarding POTUS”. I knew POTUS stood for “President of the United States”. What I did not know – was why they were interrupting my weekly Friday lunch with my brother? Turns out, “The President would like to do an interview on your show”. That’s what a woman named Abby told me.
Wow. I had not sought any political interviews for this round of elections. I’d pretty much been disgusted with the way the whole game is played, the way the media covers it, and the vitriol that came from both sides of the fence. I wanted no part of it. Having said that- how do you work in media, and decline an interview with The President? Simple. You don’t.
I got 19 calls from them in the next 24 hours. Most were fact checking expeditions: What are the full names of the show members? What’s your station’s format? How many people will be asking questions? They never asked me what I would ask, or directed me in any way (which part of me expected). The only thing they asked was that the interview not air before Monday. To be honest- other than the number of calls, it was all pretty chill. The calls were laid back and polite. Nobody was uptight or demanding. I guess I was surprised by that.
Of all of our names , Secret Service kicked back ONE. When I was told this – I immediately assumed: Blacksmith. Surely something from his past caught up with him. I was wrong, though. It was Kelly Brown! Apparently they thought Kelly was a woman (whom they know for some reason). Once that was cleared up – we were good to go.
The call was supposed to happen at 3:10pm, so I planned on being at the station a bit early. When I was on my way, however, the calls started coming rapidly. “He’s way ahead of schedule, we’ll have to go early!” I wasn’t even there yet!!! I got 4 calls in the 20 minutes it takes me to get to the station, and each one had more of a sense of urgency. I was told "The call might have to take place now"! I was 5 minutes away. I simply told them- “Well then, The President is going to have to interview himself!” I was half kidding, but the military dude wasn’t laughing.
I got to the station and went directly into the studio, where the hotline was already ringing. “Good afternoon Sir, is this Mr Kretschmar?”. Yes it is. “Good Sir, please hold”. Click. It was 2:40pm, and it was looking like I was going to interview the President alone. My heart was pounding.
Thankfully, Kelly Brown (in his bartending apron), and Roadkill (in a Cattle Decapitation t shirt) showed up shortly thereafter. We sat on hold for 25 minutes. After all the urgent phone calls about being early – the interview started – at 3:10pm (the originally appointed time).
Suddenly, background noise, and a voice: “Mr Kretschmar? The next voice you hear will be The President of the United States”.
I don’t care what you feel or believe politically –when you hear that, your heart jumps. It’s just not a sentence most people in the world ever hear.
I took a breath, and two seconds later he was there. “Hello Greg!”. My voice almost cracked as I replied, “Hello Mr President, how are you?”. If you listen to the podcast, you can hear the smile in my voice. Stuff like this just doesn’t happen to me everyday….
The interview, which was supposed to last 5 minutes, lasted 12. I admitted to being – like many Americans – a disillusioned voter. I admitted to voting for him in the first election, but was unsure about this time around. I asked why I should vote for him this time, and what had he learned in his first time that would make his second term- different? From my perspective, I was honest, but respectful.
The conversation flowed easily, covering the economy, the polarized political atmosphere in the U.S., what he misses most about “normal life”, and brewing beer at the White House. I knew we had gone well past our time limit, mainly because the White House had called my cell phone 4 times while we were talking to the President. That was the “wrap it up” signal. And so I did. The President hung up, and I stopped recording, and immediately backed up the interview in 3 places. You don’t mess around with stuff like this.
“Well, THAT didn’t suck”, said Roadkill. He was right. It didn’t. One thing he, Kelly and I agreed on – when the President uses YOUR name, it’s hard not to feel….a little star struck. I guarantee you this- President Obama, is the first President to ever address someone as “Roadkill”.
And heres an interesting fact: Even though nobody knew we did this interview- I got an email from Fox News within minutes. They wanted a copy of the interview. They asked if there were any problems with the interview? Did I have to clear questions with The White House first? Was he difficult? Were there any disagreements? That’s all they wanted to know. Looking for trash. I passed on sending it to them (or anyone else). I’m all set, thanks.
In the end, I realized that some people would hate it. Some would love it. And some would hate it – without ever hearing it. I was alternately complimented, and called things like a “dirty pig” for even talking to him. That’s the world we live in, I guess.
I don’t care. To each his own. For me, even though I haven’t agreed with everything he has or hasn’t done –I respect the Office, and I got a chance to talk to the President of the United States. And for a moment- he knew my name.
That doesn’t suck.
