The behavior of the White House Press Corp offers proof that most of the US mainstream media is part of the establishment.
Some
say the news media has a Democrat bias. That claim assumes that the news media
and the Democrats are independent entities and that the Democrats are somehow
controlling the media.
That
is simply not true.
For
decades, most of the mainstream media had functioned as a PR wing for the
Democrats. Their LinkedIn profiles may state their place of work to be
the NYT or the WaPo or MSNBC or NBC
News etc. but they report to the Democrat party leadership.
For
any given news, their opinions are indistinguishable, they even use identical
terminology. The only variation is some willing propagandists go the extra mile
toward the left please their masters while others stick to the script.
During
the Trump presidency, the White House Press Corp became vicious rottweilers
ready to bite first and ask questions later.
They
knew their petulance will earn them prominence. Former CNN White House
Correspondent Jim Acosta, the perpetually sullen self-righteous CNN
propagandist is a perfect example of this. Acosta made a name for himself
getting publicly
humiliated by President Trump. This enabled a book deal and a show on CNN.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8rXqqLPbo4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cajxAGbZlM
The ferocious rottweilers
from the Trump presidency devolved into perpetually tail-wagging poodles during
the Biden administration.
But
sycophancy seldom earns respect.
Hence
despite the silence on issues and tacit support, the White House Press Corp is
frequently humiliated by the Biden administration, even their access
to key events at the White House was restricted.
https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1441461431287762944
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VuDaBQS_nU
The
first White House Press Secretary under Biden was Jennifer Psaki who usually
had two responses to any questions the first ‘I cannot comment on that right
now’ or ‘I will get back to you regarding that’, but she never did.
Many
thought it was a sign of Psaki’s incompetence. That may have been part of it,
but it was the Biden administration's arrogance and entitlement.
They
were telling the press ‘you won’t get any information and you have no choice
but to accept it.’
This
attitude reflects Biden’s mindset.
Biden
is usually enraged even when the poodles of the press ask him elementary
questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qfsr7HZ-io
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl77nDxM47o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHm7pu7Unu0
Biden’s
next White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made Psaki look like an
omniscient wordsmith. She is clueless, speechless, generally patronizing, and
condescending to any questions she deems as adversarial.
Enter
Simon Ateba, a reporter from Cameron, who works for Today News
Africa, a news outlet that focuses on US-Africa ties.
The
suppression of the news about Biden’s mishandling of classified documents for
almost two months was scandalous. It was meant to protect the Democrats during
the 2022 midterm.
The
suppression continues even now with the Biden administration refusing to
divulge any more information.
It
took Ateba to state the obvious which is an act of rebellion during these times
of emergency.
During a briefing last week, he told Jean-Pierre that she didn’t seem a good fit for her job. As always he was ignored.
https://twitter.com/ElAmerican_/status/1618047211572695040
This
isn’t the first time Ateba has challenged Jean-Pierre.
Last
December, Ateba asked
Jean-Pierre why wasn’t taking questions from him, a journalist from the
African continent, when a three-day
summit with 49 African leaders was scheduled to occur soon.
This
incurred Jean-Pierre’s disapproval, and she rejected Ateba’s claim about not
taking his questions. She pretended to answer his question but in seconds moved
on to the next reporter claiming that Ateba had shut her down, for a follow-up
question.
When
the heat got too much, she stormed out of the press room, implicitly blaming
Ateba for causing such chaos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiQRVT2JDoM
Last
November, Ateba challenged Jean-Pierre after she brushed off another reporter's
question about the origins of COVID during Dr. Anthony Fauci's final briefing.
'She
has a valid question about the origin of COVID,' rightly said Ateba. 'Dr. Fauci
is the best person to answer!'
Jean-Pierre
responded by calling Ateba disrespectful and refused to answer the question
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl77nDxM47o
Last
August, White House Director of Strategic Communications for the National
Security Council, John has two testy exchanges with Ateba. On one occasion,
Kirby asked Ateba to be more respectful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPmnDDhLmUc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDQ106Us5Ug
Back
in December 2021, Ateba challenged Psaki about the travel ban of Southern
African countries when due to the Omicron variant of
COVID-19 when the same variant was found in 57 countries including
ones in the EU.
https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1466454580800425984
https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1466455490653831176
Ateba
appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show multiple times to narrate his experiences of
poor treatment during the White House press briefing.
For
Democrats, Carlson is the second worst person in the world after President
Trump, of course. This explains why Ateba’s relationship with the White House
has worsened.
Ateba
says Jean-Pierre has not called on him at briefings in more than four months,
which explains why he has to shout out questions over his colleagues.
Ateba
said he attempted to have a meeting with Jean-Pierre to resolve whatever issues
she may have, but she has refused to meet with him until 2024. This means
for the rest of the Biden administration Ateba is banned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRjoWGIgF-Y&t=5s
His
offense asking tough questions
A
consistent theme in the White House’s response to Ateba is that he needs to be
more respectful.
Perhaps
they forget that in a Democracy the press must hold the powerful accountable
and is under no obligation to be polite or deferential when asking questions or
when the power to attempt to suppress or misstate facts related to the national
interest.
In
a democracy, a government serves the citizen and are obliged to be transparent
with the people they serve. Since the very beginning, the Biden
administration has consistently violated myriad inviolable norms with its
unprecedented lies and obfuscation.
Simon Ateba is among the very rare in the White House press corp who is doing his job and deserves to be congratulated for doing his job, but instead, he was unofficially banned.
Let's look at it the way the Democrats would. A person of color is being discriminated against in Biden's White House for doing his job.
Had this happened during the Trump administration, Ateba would have been a national hero. He would have been a contributor on MSNBC and would have been offered a book deal. But since he is speaking truth to Democrats he has become a pariah.
Hopefully, the Trump administration will welcome him back in 2025.
Also appears on American Thinker
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