The reporter who snapped at White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders on Tuesday unveiled what he says could be a “dangerous” trio to take on the Trump administration’s press team.
In a CNN panel on Wednesday, Brian Karem, who is executive editor of The Sentinel Newspapers and writes for Playboy, appeared with two other journalists who are no strangers to clashing with the White House press team: Jim Acosta of CNN and April Ryan, White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks.
Karem credited Acosta with “indirectly” inspiring his own outburst on Tuesday. Ryan, he added, was “was one of the first ones to speak up in that press room.”
“The three of us together, I don’t know, but it could be dangerous,” said Karem, eliciting some laughs.
Acosta confronted White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday about the administration’s choosing not to televise several recent daily briefings with reporters. Several other journalists were irked by the week’s worth of off-camera briefings, including members of the White House Correspondents’ Association.
Ryan grabbed headlines in March after Spicer asked her to stop shaking her head while he was answering her question, which led to several journalists rushing to her defense.
Karem on Wednesday said that he “struck a nerve” both inside and outside of the press room due to his clash with Sanders, which began when she brought up a retracted CNN report to condemn the national media. Karem accused her of “inflaming everybody” by throwing the all of news media into the same group.
“I think the public — it is really beginning to vibrate with them and it’s bothering them,” Karem said.
“It’s not about us,” Ryan added. “It’s about the American public getting their information, freedom of the press.”
