Some political reporters defended their colleague April Ryan, a White House reporter for American Urban Radio Networks, after the Trump administration’s White House spokesman told her during Tuesday stop shaking her head while he answered her question.
During an extended exchange, in which Ryan suggested that President Trump’s agenda is bogged down by the swirling controversy over connections to Russia, Sean Spicer suggested that the news media are responsible for stoking suspicion.
“If the president puts Russian dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that’s a Russian connection,” he said.
At one point Spicer noted that Ryan was shaking her head and said to her, “At some point, the facts are what they are” and that no investigations by authorities have yielded any definitive wrongdoing.
When Ryan further pressed Spicer and he attempted to answer, he said, “Please stop shaking your head again.”
Other reporters watching the briefing reacted on Twitter.
Sean Spicer tells a reporter to stop shaking her head https://t.co/nhfEhlAMaC pic.twitter.com/DezlKKczoo— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 28, 2017
“Spicer lectures April Ryan, who is a grown
“Please stop shaking your head again,” Spicer says to veteran WH correspondent April Ryan.
That is some patronizing bullshit.— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) March 28, 2017
a grown woman and a top-notch journalist https://t.co/URF7E5apJ2
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) March 28, 2017
“Spicer lectures April Ryan, who is a grown woman,” said New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
“A grown woman and a top-notch journalist,” chimed in NBC’s Kasie Hunt.
Christina Wilkie, who covers Trump for the Huffington Post, said, “That is some patronizing bullshit.”
This isn’t Ryan’s first clash with an administration official. In February, she got into a verbal altercation with White House aide Omarosa Manigault.
