‘Decorum, Please’: Journalist Throws White House Briefing Into Chaos
"Ted Lasso" stars are witnesses to the outburst
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre received a rare apology from the press corps Monday, after a journalist erupted in anger.
Simon Ateba, a Cameroonian journalist who is the White House correspondent for Today News Africa, began verbally accosting Jean-Pierre after he became angry that wasn't getting the answers he was seeking.
The outburst occurred as Jason Sudeikis and other castmates from the hit TV series, Ted Lasso, were in the briefing room as part of their meeting with President Biden to talk about mental health.
The back-and-forth continued until a second journalist in the room attempted to calm Ateba and apologize for his behavior.
An excerpt of the incident:
JEAN-PIERRE: "Yeah, right, right. You're here for me. You're here for me. No, no, no, no, no! We're not doing this. We're not doing this. We're not doing this."
ATEBA: "And I'm saying this is the U.S., it's not Russia, it's not China. It's not Russia. What you're doing, you're making the mockery of the First Amendment. It's been seven months you've not called on me. I'm saying that's not right. That's not right."
JEAN-PIERRE: "Welcome, guys. (Laughter) Welcome to the press briefing room. Okay -- "
ATEBA: "It's not right."
JEAN-PIERRE: "Are you ready? Are we going to behave? While many folks -- "
ATEBA: "You don't respect the First Amendment."
UNKNOWN: "Decorum, please, Simon! Sorry to our guests. We apologize."
A short time after the outburst, Zeke Miller of the Associated Press returned to Ateba's eruption, to offer an apology.
“Thanks, Karine. First, a quick moment of personal privilege here. I just want to express our apologies from the press corps to the folks watching at home for what took place earlier. Our responsibility is to them,” Miller said. “We're here to ask questions on their behalf, to hold their government accountable because they can't all be here. This isn't about us.”
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