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Press Corps Explodes As KJP Publicly Berates Reporter: ‘I’m Done With You!’

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shouted down a reporter during a press briefing after the reporter was outraged for not being called on to ask a question.

The incident occurred at the end of the briefing when Jean-Pierre berated the Daily Caller’s White House correspondent Diana Glebova. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who attended the briefing, was stepping away from the podium when Glebova asked several times what Fauci had done to investigate the origins of the virus. Jean-Pierre stepped back to the podium and went off on Glebova.

“Hold on one second, we have a process here. I’m not calling on people who yell. You’re being disrespectful to your colleagues and you’re being disrespectful to our guest. I will not call on you if you yell, and also you’re taking time off the clock,” KJP shouted at the reporter.

The Grio reporter April Ryan, who had many known spats with members of the Trump administration, injected herself in the back-and-forth and told Glebova she was “being disrespectful.”

Glebova tried to respond but Jean-Pierre immediately silenced her, saying she would not get into a “back and forth with you.”

Glebova then said to Jean-Pierre that she “calls on the same people all the time.”

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As Jean-Pierre then tried to step away, the New York Post’s Steven Nelson tried to defend Glebova, as did Simon Ateba from Africa News Today.

“She’s asking a good question, she’s asking a very good question,” Ateba said.

“You need to call on people across the room, she has a valid question, she’s asking about the origins of COVID,” Ateba said, prompting Jean-Pierre to head back to the podium and nastily say she heard the question but would not respond.

WATCH:

Jean-Pierre had another incident last month when she got into a heated argument with a reporter who was outraged for not being called on to ask a question.

The incident occurred at the end of the briefing when Jean-Pierre was called on another reporter to ask a final question. The frustrated reporter erupted, shouting her own questions over Jean-Pierre’s protests to “respect your colleagues.”

Below is a transcript of the exchange, via Grabien:

Jean-Pierre: “I’m going to go around, I — we can go — we can — we can go back and forth on it. We can go back and forth on it. I was supposed to go to Chris in the back and I skipped him so I’m going to go back to Chris.”

Reporter 1: “Karine, my question is about the marriage bill that is in the Senate.”

Jean-Pierre: “You’re not being respectful. Go ahead. To your colleagues, to your own colleagues.”

Reporter 1: “[inaudible] that’s in the Senate. I’m going to ask about that.”

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Jean-Pierre: “As you see, I jump (crosstalk) — okay, go ahead.”

VERAS: “We have been here asking for a question for more than a week.”

Jean-Pierre: “Respect your colleagues. Respect your colleagues. I’m sorry, Chris, you’re going to have to start from the beginning, because there was some disrespect happening. (crosstalk) You’re being disrespectful. Go ahead.”

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Last month, several reporters complained that Jean-Pierre often gives “non-answers” or says outright that the White House has no comment on the news of the day.

One of the things she was criticized for was appearing to not be informed of the happenings of the president and the White House.

“She is poorly received as she isn’t taking time to answer questions or banter with reporters on the issues of the day,” one White House reporter said at the time. “A press secretary has to share some information, kind of a give and take, but she just doesn’t appear willing to do that yet. … Too often, she is telling reporters that she ‘has nothing from the podium’ to say, which is a waste of everyone’s time.”

It hasn’t been as sunny for Jean-Pierre, with Politico’s West Wing Playbook already declaring last month she’d suffered “unforced stumbles” and private “grumbles” from reporters, owing to her tendency to stick to the binder and deliver talking points rather than engage in extemporaneous back-and-forths with reporters.

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