News/Commentary

Karine Jean-Pierre again clashes with Simon Ateba in tense briefing room exchange

June 27, 2023 | | Print Article

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre isn’t living up to her own self-billing as a “historic” figure and the regime’s top spox, who has been showing signs of cracking under pressure, returned to the podium for the first time since Friday when she was pelted with questions from suddenly adversarial reporters about the deepening corruption scandal that is slowly engulfing her boss and his family.

During Monday’s daily press briefing, Jean-Pierre got into another tense exchange with Today News Africa White House correspondent Simon Ateba, a frequent target with whom she has a long-running feud, treating him rudely and threatening to end the session if he persisted after he accused her of discrimination.

Things were going well for Jean-Pierre as National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby did the heavy lifting early on, fielding questions about the weekend’s non-coup in Russia. But when Ateba later tried to ask a question and was denied, things went off the rails.

“Are you going to take questions from me because you’ve been discriminating against me for the past nine months?” Ateba asked as another press member sided with Jean-Pierre, asking him, “How is she discriminating against you?”

As Ateba and the other reporter – who was identified as April Ryan – verbally jousted, she then threatened, “If this continues we’re gonna end the press briefing…you’re being incredibly rude,” Jean-Pierre rudely said to him.

“You’re being incredibly rude,” she repeated. “You’re talking over your colleagues… you’re talking, you’re talking over your colleagues,” denying Ateba his question.

“On what some are calling the so-called chaos at the White House today, I was just trying to ask a question. It’s a pity what’s going on. How can @PressSec Karine Jean-Pierre preach about the freedom of the press when she is violating the First Amendment many died to protect? May God help us,” Ateba wrote on Twitter after the testy exchange.

Ateba also shared a copy of a letter he said showed that he was banned from a White House event today.

The two have repeatedly mixed it up since Jean-Pierre was tabbed to replace former spox Jen Psaki, including back in March when he berated her for not calling on him in months on a day when she welcomed the cast of Apple TV’s comedy “Ted Lasso” to the briefing room as a PR stunt.

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“This is a historic administration, I’m a historic figure and I certainly walk in history every day,” Jean-Pierre recently proclaimed in an interview with the black news and entertainment website The Grio, an ironic comment considering that she is a member of what could be the most corrupt administration in the nation’s history.

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Chris Donaldson
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