The reporter who lashed out at the Trump administration’s treatment of the media said Wednesday that he doesn’t think the president has “respect for the press.”
In an interview with MSNBC, Brian Karem, who is executive editor of the Sentinel newspapers and writes for Playboy, referred to this moment as “the low point in White House media relations.”
Karem scolded White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders at the press briefing Tuesday after she used a retracted CNN report to criticize the national media.
He accused Sanders at the briefing of “inflaming everyone” by lumping all news media together as “fake.”
“I have said this all along. I have a healthy respect for Sarah [Huckabee Sanders] and for Sean Spicer [White House press secretary],” Karem told MSNBC Wednesday afternoon. “They have done some things that are very good for the press. But at the same time, you have got the president of the United States tweeting out that we’re the enemy of the people. That we are, you know, fake media, false media. So what part of the growling dog do you believe? Do you believe the end wagging its tail or the end that’s barking at you? I respect the teeth. I don’t think he [Trump] has respect for the press.”
Karem said he’s been surprised at how people are reacting to his criticism of the White House press operation, and Trump.
“I feel for the reporters who have spent years and years there [at the press briefing], I know how they felt but I was surprised at the depth — at the nerve I struck with what I said,” Karem said.
Karem closed the interview by condemning Trump’s use of Twitter. He said the president doesn’t appreciate the magnitude of his words on social media.
“The problem with Twitter is it’s not a complete thought and there’s no context,” Karem said. “And when you tweet out that we’re the fake media, there are people that have died serving this country as members of the press. I’m sorry when you tweet out fake media and condemn all of us, that really is a condemnation of the First Amendment and it undermines or republic.”
