White House Correspondents’ Association President Jonathan Karl put forth a statement in defense of Playboy reporter Brian Karem Sunday after the White House stripped the journalist of his hard pass.
WHCA Statement on Hard Pass Press Access at White House. #whca pic.twitter.com/ro2vRtIzZx
— WHCA (@whca) August 4, 2019
Karem said that his White House access had been suspended for 30 days after he got into an argument with former White House staffer Sebastian Gorka in early July.
Gorka called Karem a “punk” and the altercation momentarily seemed like it was building toward physical violence.
Trump gleefully tweeted after the scuffle that “Gorka wins big! No contest!”
The White House has pulled this trick before, revoking CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass after he refused to give up his microphone to a White House intern. Then- press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders circulated a doctored video of the moment, sped up to make it look like Acosta swatted the woman away.
CNN and Acosta sued, and a judge reinstated his credentials.
