White House warns reporter not to talk to attendees at Michelle Obama campaign event

A journalist covering first lady Michelle Obama’s campaign appearance in Wisconsin said a White House aide told her that she wasn’t allowed to talk to people in the crowd.

Meg Kissinger, a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, posted on Facebook that she felt “creeped out” by the heavy-handed tactic at the campaign event Monday for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke.

“[A]ssigned to cover Michelle Obama’s speech today and was told by a Mary Burke aide and one for the White House that I could not speak to the people in the crowd,” Ms. Kissinger wrote. “To say that I was creeped out is an understatement. This is what reporters do in America: we speak to people. At least that’s how I’ve been doing things — at all kinds of political events — since 1979.”

At the campaign event in Milwaukee, Mrs. Obama warned supporters that re-electing Republican Gov. Scott Walker would be harmful to the middle class.

“The stakes this year simply could not be higher,” the first lady said. “Because if we don’t show up at the polls this November, if we don’t elect leaders like Mary Burke who will put people first instead of just fighting for special interests, then we know exactly what will happen. We will see more folks interfering in women’s private decisions about our health care. We will see more folks denying that climate change even exists. We will see more votes against immigration reform and raising the minimum wage for hard-working folks.”