The tense relationship between the Trump administration and some press organizations boiled over Tuesday when a reporter had a heated argument with deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a briefing.
Executive Editor of the Montgomery County and Prince George’s Sentinel newspapers Brian Karem accused Sanders of being “inflammatory” toward the press.
“We’re here to ask you questions,” Karem said. “You’re here to provide the answers, and what you just did is inflammatory to people all over the country who look at it and say, ‘See, once again, the president’s right and everybody else out here is fake media,’ and everybody in this room is only trying to do their job.”
His outburst came after Sanders lambasted the media for what she said was unfair coverage of the Trump administration’s policies.
Wow. This entire exchange at the WH briefing. Must watch. https://t.co/ZxEEe6e31P
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 27, 2017
“If we make the slightest mistake, the slightest word is off, it is just an absolute tirade from a lot of people in this room,” Sanders said, “but news outlets get to go on, day after day, and cite unnamed sources, use stories without sources.”
Karem responded with a tirade that has been applauded on Twitter.
“Why in the name of heavens — any one of us are replaceable and any one of us, if we don’t get it right, the audience has the opportunity to turn the channel or not read us,” he said. “You have been elected to serve for four years at least. There’s no option other than that.”
The exchange was lauded online, with many Twitter users praising Karem’s speech.
“He should’ve received a standing ovation. They all need his courage,” one user said, while another called him a “press briefing hero.”
For her part, Sanders did not agree with the outburst.
“I think if anything has been inflamed it’s the dishonesty that often takes place by the news media, and I think it is outrageous for you to accuse me of inflaming a story when I was simply trying to respond to his question,” she said.
