Like nominee, like running mate.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s staff took a cue from Donald Trump’s in barring a Washington Post reporter from an event Wednesday in Wisconsin and alerting local police, who patted him down to look for his cell phone, the newspaper reported.
According to the Post, reporter Jose A. DelReal attempted to gain a press pass to the event but was refused by volunteers for the campaign. Then when DelReal tried to go through the general admissions line to enter with the rest of the public, which the paper said its reporters have been doing at Trump events since he barred them from obtaining press passes, he was stopped by a security guard.
The guard reportedly told DelReal that he couldn’t bring a laptop and cellphone into the event with him. When DelReal asked if he could then bring only his cellphone in, the Post’s report said the security guard, who declined to give his name, offered this rationale: “Not if they work for The Washington Post.”
DelReal told the Post that when he returned to the event sans cellphone and laptop, the security guards, whom the paper identified as Deputy John Lappley and Capt. Michelle Larsuel, summoned police to pat him down. When they could not find a cellphone, DelReal asked to be admitted to the event. Instead, he was escorted out.
The Post said Pence’s staff apologized for that treatment, with an unnamed official blaming the episode on “overzealous campaign volunteers.”
While Trump’s campaign has been notorious for scapegoating the press, barring them from obtaining press passes and making them adhere to very strict rules during events, this appears to be the first time Pence’s staff has followed suit. The Milwaukee-area rally was his first solo campaign event since he joined the GOP ticket.
