Will Michelle Obama be dropping a thank-you note to to Nia-Malika Henderson?  Interviewed on MSNBC today, the Politico reporter dismissed the suggestion that it was a mistake for the First Lady to turn up at a food bank wearing $540 French sneakers.  For good measure, Henderson slipped in an invidious comparison with Ronald Reagan’s beloved, referring to her as “Queen Nancy.”

Here was the exchange between Henderson and the MSNBC host.

MSNBC: A new book on Michelle Obama’s fashion sense is coming out today. It’s called, appropriately, “Michelle style.” At the same time, she made some unfortunate headlines, I suppose, from the White House view last week, by wearing $500 sneakers when she went to a food bank. One article suggested it was her first wardrobe malfunction. Is that something you get the sense the white house takes seriously or that she takes seriously?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON: No, I think, you know, the East Wing says this about Michelle Obama’s fashion. And that is, she wears what she’s comfortable in. And I don’t think there’s any kind of fear that she’ll end up like Nancy Reagan, who was buying these $10,000 gowns and kind of nicknamed Queen Nancy because of her extravagant fashion choices. People kind of see Michelle Obama as somebody who does high fashion and low fashion. I guess it just so happened on that day, she was kind of doing high-end sneakers.

MSNBC: And what was the White House reaction when reporters asked about the apparent sort of disconnect between a food kitchen and high-end sneakers?

HENDERSON: Again, it’s essentially that, you know, they don’t necessarily comment very much on Michelle Obama’s fashion. It’s pretty much that she, like most women, wears what she’s comfortable with. I think on that day, that’s essentially what she was doing. But I think it’s definitely something that they are mindful of, and that going forward, their definitely going to kind of be on the lookout for.

Robert Gibbs couldn’t have said it better himself.