"I am highly disappointed and even heartbroken," Ateba said.
She once again refused to do her job of taking questions, leaving reporters without answers on critical matters.
The incident occurred almost immediately upon Jean-Pierre's arrival at the podium.
She began the round of questioning by saying, "Alright, we can end this briefing if it's not going to be respectful here."
Jean-Pierre pointed to a reporter named "Chris" to ask a question, but Simon Ateba, whom the press secretary refused to call on, interjected and questioned why she wouldn't take his questions.
With barely any hesitation at all, Jean-Pierre abruptly ended the briefing and stormed out of the room.
"Thanks, everybody. Thanks, everybody," she said as she packed up her belongings and left.
One reporter can be heard repeatedly asking questions about gas prices as the press secretary exited the podium, but Jean-Pierre didn't look back and kept going.
Journalist Simon Ateba, who is the White House correspondent for Today News Africa, is considered to be Jean-Pierre's nemesis. The two have been battling it out in the briefing room for quite some time, mostly over the press secretary's refusal to take his questions.
In August, Ateba filed a lawsuit against Jean-Pierre and the United States Secret Service on claims that his White House press pass was "wrongfully revoked." The journalist's "hard pass" was revoked in May, which banned him from attending official White House press briefings. He has since, however, returned.
Simon Ateba wrote about the most recent incident on X and said it caused him to be "heartbroken." He questioned why Jean-Pierre wouldn't take a question from the only African reporter in the room when the President of Angola was at the White House meeting with President Biden at the time.
"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. 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," he wrote.
"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 added. "May God help me."
Powered by The Post Millennial CMS™ Comments
Join and support independent free thinkers!
We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.
Remind me next month
To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy
Comments