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Walker campaign screens reporters' questions

The Scott Walker campaign is quickly building a reputation as the most press-averse group in the Republican field.

On Tuesday, Walker's policy team held a press call with reporters to discuss the Wisconsin governor's health care plan, as well as his intention to repeal and replace Obamacare. But when reporters tried to submit a question, they were greeted by a press aide who demanded to know what question each reporter intended to ask.

"Was on Gov. Walker health plan press call. First time as a reporter I've ever had my questions pre-screened before I could ask them," Stephanie Armour, The Wall Street Journal's health care policy reporter, tweeted after the call.

"On Scott Walker's health care policy call, reporter questions are being screened," her colleague Reid Epstein wrote.

This is not the first time Walker and his team have exercised extreme caution when dealing with the press.

In March, Walker made public appearances in Texas and South Carolina but closed the events to press and refused to take questions from the media. In April, while visiting Europe, he held no public events and took no questions from reporters. In May, while visiting Israel, he did the same. An aide told the Journal that Walker was going to "focus on educating himself about Israeli issues and won’t hold public events or take questions from reporters."

It goes without saying that Walker has held his share of press interviews and media scrums, but campaign reporters have noted the cautious attitude among his team -- which is especially notable given the governor's reputation in the Madison Statehouse, where he was known as a press hound who relished the attention of reporters.

In a statement sent shortly after the publication of this post, Walker spokesperson AshLee Strong acknowledged that an aide had fielded incoming calls, which she described as "standard."

"All reporters on the call were able to ask questions and we even had time at the end in which we were actively soliciting more inquiries," she wrote. "No reporters were denied questions."