White House press secretary Josh Earnest appears to be hitting back at ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl for asking a particularly cringeworthy question about Vice President Biden during Monday’s White House press briefing.
During a recent interview with Bloomberg, Earnest simultaneously identified Karl as the “friendliest” reporter in the White House press corps and revealed that he doesn’t “like” him.
When asked to name the “most consistently delightful reporter” he deals with on a regular basis, Earnest replied that he couldn’t single out this individual.
“That would tarnish their reputation forever if we identified that person,” explained the White House press secretary.
“I’ve got to choose somebody that I don’t like so that I don’t harm them,” Earnest continued with a smug grin. “Jon Karl is consistently the nicest, friendliest, most direct guy. Down to earth, friendliest individual you’d ever want to meet.”
Fortunately, Earnest added that “no physical contact has been required so far” to subdue the ABC News journalist.
At Monday’s press briefing, Karl confronted Earnest about Biden’s series of recent gaffes, which have forced the vice president to apologize to multiple groups of people.
Watch the Bloomberg interview below.
