White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is continuing her trend of ignoring certain reporters.
On Tuesday, the self-proclaimed “historic figure” chose not to call on The New York Post’s Steven Nelson again after months of ignoring him.
As Jean-Pierre walked away from the podium without taking his question, Nelson said, “It’s anti-democratic to refuse questions from one of our country’s four largest newspapers, Karine!”
.@NYPost's @StevenNelson10 RIPS into KJP when she again refuses to call on him: "It's anti-democratic to refuse questions from one of our country's four largest newspapers, Karine!" pic.twitter.com/2phKAqcquk
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 31, 2023
This comes weeks after the press secretary smugly dismissed Nelson.
During an Oct. 11 briefing, he stated, “You haven’t called on me in two seasons, Karine.”
Jean-Pierre then smirked and said, “I’m not calling on you today.”
KJP completely freezes out @NYPost's @StevenNelson10, stating with a smirk that "I'm not calling on you today!"
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 11, 2023
Nelson hit back: "You should be ashamed of that! That shows disrespect to a free and independent media! It's blasphemous to one of our country's largest & widely read… pic.twitter.com/5Ld1Awb2jU
There is no guarantee or right to have your question answered in the briefing room. Sometimes, the grandstanders and people who act out should be ignored if they cannot follow decorum. There are also a lot of reporters who want to be in the room and ask questions and sometimes press secretaries like to call on smaller or niche outlets.
Yet this seems different. It seems to be some kind of animus towards Nelson or the Post, or both, because of its negative and aggressive coverage of the Biden administration.
The Post is not exactly some fringe paper or online outlet that just sends reporters who ask gotchya questions, or who try to promote conspiracy theories. And even though it is a tabloid, it does have some good political journalism from time to time. It also does have the fourth-largest circulation in the country of newspapers.
Ignoring their reporters for months on end because she does not like their questions is the kind of thing that would have reporters setting their hair on fire if it happened during the previous administration with reporters furiously tweeting about the freedom of the press.