Editor's Note, 8:28 p.m. Eastern: Late Tuesday afternoon, Playboy admitted in a tweet that Karem is also at the White House as their correspondent. “Yes, that’s Playboy’s White House Correspondent @briankarem, having his 'Network’ moment—and giving 'em hell,” it wrote. So, take from that what you will.
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An anti-Trump journalist on Tuesday suffered a total meltdown, screaming at Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Brian J. Karem, a reporter for a local Maryland paper The Sentinel, lost it after Sanders fought back against a “barrage of fake news.” Sanders lectured the assembled journalists: “If we make the slightest mistake, the slightest word is off, it is just an absolute tirade from a lot of people in this room. But news outlets get to go on, day after day, and cite unnamed sources.”
Karem, who wasn’t called on, interrupted and yelled, “Come on! You're inflaming everybody right here right now with those words!” He exploded, “You're here to provide the answers and what you just did is inflammatory to people all over the country...”
Apparently dismissing the concept of media bias, Karem complimented the other journalists in the room: “Everybody in this room is only trying to do their job.”
Sanders quickly shut Karem down:
First of all, I think if anything has been inflamed, it's the dishonesty that often takes place by the news media and I think it is outrageous for you to accuse me of inflaming a story when I was simply trying to respond to his question.
Earlier in the briefing, Sanders offered another complaint about liberal journalists:
Things like the success at the VA barely get covered. They may get covered for an hour at a time, but this story gets covered day in, day out, and I think America is frankly looking for something better. They're looking for something more. And I think they deserve something better from our news media.
A transcript is below:
CNN Newsroom
6/27/17
3:13SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: I think it's the constant barrage of fake news directed at this President, probably, that has garnered a lot of his frustration. You point to that report. There are multiple other instances where that outlet that you referenced has been repeatedly wrong and had to point that out or be corrected. There's a video circulating now, whether it's accurate or not, I don't know.
But I would encourage everybody in this room and frankly everybody across the country to take a look at it. I think if it is accurate, I think it's a disgrace to all of media, to all of journalism. I think that we have gone to a place where, if the media can't be trusted to report the news, then that's a dangerous place for America, and I think if that is the place that certain outlets are going, particularly for the purpose of spiking ratings, and if that's coming directly from the top, I think that's even more scary. And certainly more disgraceful. And I hope that that's not the direction we're headed. I hope that outlets that have continued to use either unnamed sources, sometimes stories with no sources at all, we've been going on this Russia/Trump hoax for the better part of a year now with no evidence of anything. Things like the success at the VA barely get covered. They may get covered for an hour at a time, but this story gets covered day in, day out, and I think America is frankly looking for something better. They're looking for something more. And I think they deserve something better from our news media.
...
SANDERS: If we make the slightest mistake, the slightest word is off, it is just an absolute tirade from a lot of people in this room. But news outlets get to go on, day after day, and cite unnamed sources, use stories without sources, have, you know, you mentioned the Scaramucci story where they had to have reporters resign.
BRIAN J. KAREM (The Sentinel newspapers): Come on! You're inflaming everybody right here, right now with those words! This administration has done that as well. Why in the name of heavens — any one of us, right, are replaceable — and any one of us, if we don't get it right, the audience has the opportunity to turn the channel or not read us. You have been elected to serve for four years at least.
There's no option other than that. We're here to ask you questions. You're here to provide the answers and what you just did is inflammatory to people all over the country who look at it and say, ‘See, once again, the President's right and everybody else out here is fake media.’ And everybody in this room is only trying to do their job.
SANDERS: I just — I disagree completely. First of all, I think if anything has been inflamed, it's the dishonesty that often takes place by the news media and I think it is outrageous for you to accuse me of inflaming a story when I was simply trying to respond to his question. Kevin.
