There has been an ongoing feud between White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and reporter Simon Ateba from Today News Africa for quite some time now, with the latest installment featured KJP absolutely refusing to call on Ateba and then abruptly closing out a press conference featuring National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby. Kirby was there to talk about President Joe Biden welcoming Angolan President Joao Lourenco to the White House.
According to the Daily Wire, Simon Ateba interrupted Kirby after attempting to ask a question during the proceedings, going on to say, “It’s so surprising you are receiving an African leader and you don’t take a question from an African journalist.”
This really rubbed KJP the wrong way. She’s usually snippy and snotty with reporters who have a different view of the issues than she does, but Ateba seems to occupy a particularly venomous place in her heart. Jean-Pierre decided to interject so that Kirby could exit stage left, saying, “We can end this briefing if it’s not going to be respectful here.”
Doesn’t she sound like a teacher chiding a class of third graders for getting too rowdy while playing a game? Or parents saying, “if you don’t knock it off we’ll stop the car right here and turn around?” Give me a break.
Ateba responded to the hostility of Jean-Pierre by continuing to try and speak, but she had enough and ended the briefing as promised, taking no questions from anyone.
“It’s a shame that @WhiteHouse @PressSec Karine Jean-Pierre decided to abruptly end the press briefing rather than take a question from me after a year,” Ateba stated in a post published on X. “Even when President Biden is hosting an African leader like the President of Angola today, the White House does not take a question from the African journalist in the room.”
“I am highly disappointed and even heartbroken that in the citadel of democracy, and in the most powerful house in the world, I’m being discriminated against for a year for trying to do my job while journalist colleagues remain silent,” he continued, adding that KJP “stormed out to pretend I shut the briefing. Very dishonest.”
BREAKING: Karine Jean-Pierre ends the White House briefing in chaos after refusing to call on an African journalist.
Of course, KJP took zero questions.pic.twitter.com/x7XNjmfNdX
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 1, 2023
I remember back when Joe Biden was campaigning for president and promised that his administration would be one of the most transparent in the history of this country. Just like everything else that came out of his mouth back then, it was a lie to get people to vote for him over former President Donald Trump. He never intended to keep that promise. And it shows.
Anytime a reporter actually does their job to ask tough questions, KJP often grows hostile and employs childish tactics to sort of punish said individual for daring to poke holes in the administration. And that’s just with questions. How fragile is Biden and his team? Apparently so fragile that tough questions could leave them shattered in pieces.
If the White House cannot provide adequate answers for tough questions asked by the media and is constantly becoming adversarial with the press, doesn’t that speak volumes about the quality of leadership we have in America?
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