A longtime White House correspondent and CNN political analyst said she will no longer be appearing at a Pete Buttigieg campaign fundraiser on Saturday after her scheduled appearance was reported by multiple news outlets.
April Ryan, who has been a credentialed White House reporter since the 1990s, was slated to “moderate” the ticketed grassroots fundraiser organized by the Buttigieg campaign, which also featured the candidate’s senior advisers, Jess O’Connell and Brandon Neal, according to the invite. Ryan was billed as “a CNN political analyst and White House correspondent” on the invitation, which also featured her photo. Tickets to the event start at $15 for students and run as high as $500.
Ryan’s appearance was flagged by the Sunlight Foundation and made headlines on Friday.
Tomorrow, there will be a grassroots fundraising event for @PeteButtigieg in Washington DC.
Tickets range from $15 up to $500 pic.twitter.com/g4gjamVoGk
— Political Party Time (@PolPartyTime) October 18, 2019
After news accounts of her participation in a fundraiser were published, she announced on Twitter that she had withdrawn from the fundraiser and would be rescheduling an interview with Buttigieg at a “more appropriate” venue. She also said the Buttigieg campaign had failed to inform her that the event was a fundraiser.
“I agreed to interview Pete Buttigieg this weekend — the campaign was not clear that the venue would be a fundraiser,” wrote Ryan. “We’ll be rescheduling the interview to a more appropriate time/place. Looking forward to asking him the tough questions the AURN audience wants answers to.”
I agreed to interview Pete Buttigieg this weekend – the campaign was not clear that the venue would be a fundraiser. We’ll be rescheduling the interview to a more appropriate time/place. Looking forward to asking him the tough questions the AURN audience wants answers to.
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) October 18, 2019
A representative for Buttigieg did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Ryan is also the D.C. bureau chief of the American Urban Radio Networks. She did not respond to request for comment about her appearance. A representative for Buttigieg told the Hill that Ryan was not being paid for the appearance. Tom Anderson, director of the National Legal and Policy Center’s Government Integrity Project, said Ryan’s appearance could be considered an in-kind contribution to the Buttigieg campaign if she was not being paid.
The Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics advises reporters to “avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility.”
Ryan, who has covered the White House since the Clinton administration, says on her website that her “position as a White House Correspondent has afforded her unusual insight into the racial sensitivities, issues, and attendant political struggles of our nation’s last presidents.” She previously drew criticism from the Society of Professional Journalists in August after her bodyguard aggressively removed a reporter who was filming her keynote speech at a conference in New Jersey.
