Robert Foster, a Republican state representative in Mississippi who is running for governor, blocked a female reporter from shadowing him on a campaign trip “to avoid any situation that may evoke suspicion or compromise” his marriage. (NYT)
In two phone calls this week, Colton Robison, Foster’s campaign director, said a male colleague would need to accompany this reporter on the upcoming 15-hour campaign trip because they believed the optics of the candidate with a woman, even a working reporter, could be used in a smear campaign to insinuate an extramarital affair. (Mississippi Today)
The reporter, Larrison Campbell, wrote that Mississippi Today rejected Foster’s condition that she bring a male colleague. “My editor and I agreed the request was sexist and an unnecessary use of resources,” Campbell wrote. (NBC News)
Foster defended his decision on Twitter Wednesday, citing his Christian faith as the reason he denied access to Campbell. (CNN)