In Washington, who you know can mean everything.
In a White House Pool Report Tuesday, it was reported that Ana Inskeep, the 4-year-old daughter of NPR “Morning Edition” host Steve Inskeep, climbed into Michelle Obama‘s lap during a visit to the Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School. But did she use her father’s name and status to get there?
In preparation for her trip to China, the first lady visited the school and met with 21 students who had home stays in China and offered her travel and culture tips. She later met with pre-schoolers who performed kung fu dance moves and sang a chorus of Psy’s “Gangham Style.” The visit included a vocabulary lesson.
From the Pool Report: “At one point, 4 year old Ana Inskeep (NPR’s Steve Inskeep’s daughter) told the First Lady: ‘I love you Mrs. Obama’ in Mandarin. When it came time to take pictures, there was a disagreement about who should sit in Mrs. Obama’s lap, but it was diplomatically resolved, with Ana trading places, with 4 year old, Saadiq McCauley for photos.”
As stated above, Ana gave up her seat on the first lady’s lap so her classmate could have it. But over on Twitter, things turned downright ugly when a deeply skeptical and cynical woman (@Irwilke) asked Inskeep, “Was Ana chosen for the photo op completely by coincidence, or did she play the ‘My dad’s on NPR card?” Inskeep defended his daughter’s honor, saying, “The White House pool report says that, far from angling for Mrs. Obama’s lap, she promptly gave the sear [sic, supposed to be seat, we presume] to her friend who asked.”
Nonetheless, around dinnertime Tuesday, Inskeep released a photograph (as shown here) of Ana on Obama’s lap. He wrote, “Ana Inskeep, 4, on the lap of Michelle Obama at Yu Ying Elementary, Washington, DC.”
Apparently this was the pre-official photo op.
