Growing tensions between the media and the White House became even more apparent Tuesday, after Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders drew criticism from a frustrated local reporter.
Sanders, who was covering for U.S. Press Secretary Sean Spicer, addressed the crowd of journalists after three CNN employees resigned over a retracted Russia-related story. She berated the press for using unnamed sources, saying the media goes on an “absolute tirade” over the Trump administration’s “slightest” mistakes.
READ MORE: Trump gleefully tweets after CNN retracts Russia report
The criticism of press coverage irked White House correspondent Brian Karem enough for him to lash out at Sanders, accusing her of being “inflammatory.”
“Oh, come on,” Karem said, interrupting Sanders. “You’re inflaming everybody right here, right now with those words. This administration has done that as well.”
The reporter, who works for The Sentinel newspaper, disputed the claim that the media has been reporting “fake news.”
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“Any one of us, right, are replaceable. And if we don’t get it right, the audience has the opportunity to turn the channel or not read us,” he said.
“Everybody in this room is only trying to do their job.”
Sanders replied to Karem’s remarks by saying she disagrees completely.
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“I think if anything has been inflamed, it’s the dishonesty that often takes place by the news media,” she said.
Karem continued his criticism of Sanders on Twitter after the press briefing ended.
“We are not FAKE news,” he wrote.
Karem was praised online for his defence of the media.
Tensions between the press and Trump administration have been rising for months, and especially following the administration’s decision that cameras would be barred from broadcasting press briefings.