The White House press briefing brought on the stars of Ted Lasso, to discuss mental health issues, but the proceedings were constantly interrupted by White House reporter for Today News Africa, Simon Ateba, who has made a habit of yelling nonsense to the podium.
After introducing the Lasso cast, Ateba began shouting, and Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had enough.
"No, no, no, we're not doing this, we're not doing this," she said.
After the Lasso clan was finished, Ateba continued badgering the press secretary.
"This is not China; this is not Russia!"
Other reporters started to push back.
"The press corp is tired of dealing with this."
"There are people in the back who don’t get any questions!”
“Don’t make assumptions about what the rest of us do. Mind your manners when you’re in here, and if you have a problem, you bring it up afterward! But you are impinging on everybody in here who is only trying to do their jobs!”
“I understand there’s going to be a give and take. That’s the way the press briefing has gone for decades before me. And I will always respect that, but what I will not appreciate is disrespecting colleagues and disrespecting guests who were here to talk about an incredibly important issue, which is mental health,” Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Right on cue, Fox News' Tucker Carlson interviewed Ateba.
The Daily Beast reported on his bizarre exchanges with Tuckems:
“The press secretary doesn’t need to like me, date me, marry me, have two Black children with me. She doesn’t need all that,” Ateba said, much to Carlson’s amusement. “She doesn’t even need to like my accent—doesn’t even need to like what I look like [or] where I come from. They look down on me. They don’t respect the First Amendment.”
