As Barack Obama was about to begin his remarks, mentioning that the event is meant to be a “town hall,” a guy on the photography riser (with a camera and a press credential) shouted out that Obama should take questions from the floor … and then demanded that Obama recite the pledge of allegiance. Obama asked him if he is a member of the press, but then complied and invited the heckler to join him in leading the crowd in the pledge, which he did. And then Obama thanked him.
Bizarre.
I asked him to identify what press organization he is with, but he refused. He said he was speaking as a “public citizen.” He went into some kind of rant about how his brother “died in Vietnam for the flag.”
Another reporter asked for his name, but he wouldn’t give it.
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