‘You’re Smirking!’ Reporter Accuses State Dept Spox of Smiling While Talking About Gaza Death Toll in WILD Exchange

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller’s press conference took a contentious turn Tuesday when reporter Sam Husseini accused him of “smirking” as he discussed the number of civilian deaths in Gaza.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the October 7th attack against Israel, has seen escalating violence and a growing number of civilian casualties. Figures supplied by the Hamas-affiliated Gaza health ministry have reported significant civilian deaths, though the Biden administration has insisted the exact numbers remain difficult to verify independently.

In response to a journalist’s question about the accuracy of death toll figures reported by Gaza’s health ministry, Miller said: “The death toll could very well be more, we know there are potentially people who are under rubble who have not been counted.”

He continued: “But it goes to the point I was making, whatever the number is, the reported number already is far too high. The reported number already is unacceptable, the number of civilian deaths. So, of course, something higher than that would just be further tragedy. But we long ago passed the stage where… This has been a horrific human tragedy for some time.”

Husseini interrupted: “You’re smirking! You’re smirking as you say that.”

Shocked, Miller looked at the reporter and shook his head, raising his hand in indication for Husseini to stop.

After attempting to continue, Miller gave up and said: “Go ahead with another question. I’m not even going to entertain that. I’m not even going to entertain that. Saaed, go ahead with another question.”

Eventually, taken aback, he dismissed the accusation: “That’s ridiculous.”

Watch above.