A reporter from the New York Post engaged in a brief exchange with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during her briefing.
New York Post correspondent Steven Nelson expressed his frustration, stating that Jean-Pierre had not addressed his questions for “two seasons.” He interrupted her as she tried to call on another reporter.
“You haven’t called on me in two seasons, Karine,” Nelson said, according to Fox News.
“And I’m not calling on you today,” Jean-Pierre responded as she pointed to another reporter, saying, “Go ahead.”
Nelson fired back: “You should be ashamed of that. That shows disrespect to a free and independent media to blacklist one of our country’s largest and most widely read newspapers, Karine. That shows contempt for a free and independent press.”
“I’m calling on somebody who I haven’t called on for a long time as well. Go ahead,” the press secretary replied as she took a question from a different reporter.
Later, Nelson took to the X platform to comment on the exchange.
“The @NYPost is our country’s oldest daily newspaper. We have 4th-largest print circulation and only NY Times has more web traffic @PressSec last called on me in May, and on a colleague in July. The May exchange was also about press freedom issues,” he wrote in a post where he linked to a story about the Biden administration’s pre-screening process for reporters at exclusive events.
The @NYPost is our country's oldest daily newspaper. We have 4th-largest print circulation and only NY Times has more web traffic@PressSec last called on me in May, and on a colleague in July. The May exchange was also about press freedom issues: https://t.co/lNhoE8KSfD https://t.co/4FdRDZvlQ3
— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) October 11, 2023