Several news agencies that included the Huffington Post, AFP, the Daily Mail and others spiked reports on first daughter Malia Obama’s school trip to Mexico, Politico reported.
On Monday, AFP — the French press agency — reported that President Barack Obama’s daughter was on a school trip in Mexico and was accompanied by friends and 25 Secret Service agents. The story was picked up by Yahoo, the Huffington Post, International Business Times, the Telegraph and the Daily Mail.
By Monday night, all the stories had been removed. The AFP and Yahoo links now lead to a story titled “Senegal music star Youssou Ndour hits campaign trail.” Links on the Huffington Post and International Business Times redirect to their homepage. The Daily Mail, Telegraph and Australian stories now show a “404” error: “page not found.”
Kristina Schake, Communications Director to the First Lady, emailed Politico to confirm this was a White House effort:
“From the beginning of the administration, the White House has asked news outlets not to report on or photograph the Obama children when they are not with their parents and there is no vital news interest. We have reminded outlets of this request in order to protect the privacy and security of these girls.”