Just seconds after White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the cast of Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” entered the briefing room, Today News Africa founder and chief White House correspondent Simon Ateba shouted as Jean-Pierre scolded him, repeatedly saying “no” and “we’re not doing this.” Ateba accused Jean-Pierre of discrimination.
“You’ve been discriminating against me and discriminating against some people in the briefing room,” said Ateba, who added that the United States is “not China. This not Russia.”
Reporters complained and rebuked Ateba. NBC News senior White House correspondent Kelly O'Donnell repeatedly called for “decorum.” But Ateba did not stop.
“It’s been seven months,” he said. “You’ve not called on me [in seven months].”
Jean-Pierre turned around and tried to make light of the situation and welcome the “Ted Lasso” cast members—Jason Sudekis, Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, and Toheeb Jimoh—who were at the White House to meet with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden to discuss the issue of mental health. They were at the briefing prior to their meeting.
“Are we ready?” asked Jean-Pierre moments later. “Are we going to behave?”
As Jean-Pierre tried to start her remarks, Ateba kept speaking. Eventually, Jean-Pierre was able to continue the briefing uninterrupted.
Moments after the “Ted Lasso” cast left the room, however, Ateba resumed his grievance against Jean-Pierre, who looked irritated.
“You can’t continue discriminating against some people in the briefing room because you don’t like them...,” said Ateba.
Jean-Pierre fired back as Ateba continued talking.
“So, you have a choice,” she said. “You have a choice. You have a choice.”
Ateba repeated that the United States is not China or Russia when it comes to the press, causing an unidentified reporter to scream something inaudible. Other reporters went after Ateba with one of them saying, “The rest of us are here too, pal!”
Reuters White House Correspondent Jeff Mason interjected and said that if Ateba has complaints, he should bring them to Jean-Pierre “later.”
“I have done that,” replied Ateba.
“The press corps is tired of dealing with this,” said another reporter. “[It’s not] about you, Simon.”
Ateba and Mason went at it with the former lamenting that the latter and his peers in the front rows get questions all the time while there are those in the back rows “who don’t get any questions.”
Another reporter chimed in and told Ateba to not “make assumptions about what the rest of us do. Mind your manners.”
Ateba reiterated to Jean-Pierre that she shouldn’t “discriminate against some people because you don’t agree with their question; you’re offended...” as other reporters expressed irritation, with one saying “you made your point.”
Jean-Pierre appeared to bring calm to the situation.
“Guys, as you all know, many of you know, this is the White House press briefing room, a historic room. A room that should have decorum. A room where folks should respect their colleagues and respect the guests that are here. And I understand that there’s going to be give-and-take. That’s the way the press briefing has gone on for decades before me. And I will always, always respect that.
“But what I will not, what I will not appreciate is disrespecting your colleagues and disrespecting guests who ... were here to talk about an incredibly important issue, which is mental health. And what has just occurred these last 10-15 minutes is unacceptable. It is unacceptable.”
Ateba tried to respond, but Jean-Pierre had none of it, threatening to end the briefing if Ateba kept talking.
The briefing proceeded without incident as National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby took the podium, followed by Jean-Pierre.
WHCA President Tamara Keith, a White House correspondent for NPR, initially declined to comment on the incident.
However, Keith decided to address the incident after all.
“What happened today created a hostile work environment for everyone in that room. This isn’t my first note to the press corps imploring everyone to be respectful of each other and to conduct ourselves in a professional manner during these televised briefings,” she continued. “Unfortunately, this is an issue that keeps recurring despite our best efforts to encourage basic decorum. You have told us that you are deeply frustrated with the outbursts and we share that frustration.”
“At the risk of becoming a broken record, preventing a briefing from proceeding hurts the entire press corps and amounts to a violation of the collegiality called for in the WHCA’s bylaws,” she added.
Keith declined to say why she changed her mind and decided to speak out about the matter other than to say that The Epoch Times could quote her letter to WHCA members.
