NY Times Reporter Gets Blown Off After Shouty Exchange During Air Force One Briefing

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre bristled at New York Times White House correspondent Michael Shear when he repeatedly insisted he wasn’t answering his question, eventually blowing him off.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s detention in Russia has been a topic of intense interest even amid the news of former President Donald Trump’s indictment.

On Friday morning, President Joe Biden was briefly asked about the case when he spoke with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House as he prepared to board Marine One:

REPORTER: What’s your message to Russia right now as they’re detaining —

THE PRESIDENT: To whom?

REPORTER: To Russia as they’re detaining this Wall Street journalist (inaudible).

THE PRESIDENT: Let him go. We’re in the process.

Jean-Pierre gaggled aboard Air Force One Friday en route to Mississippi, and fielded several questions about Gershkovich, including an exchange with Shear that turned contentious and ended with Jean-Pierre moving on while Shear exclaimed loudly that KJP wasn’t answering his question:

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Michael, I — I understand the question, and I actually answered it. Every American that is detained, it is indeed a priority. This is the — something the President has said from the beginning of this administration. Every —

MICHAEL SHEAR: How did that answer the question?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Because I just told you. It’s a priority. This is a priority.

MICHAEL SHEAR: The question was: How long will it take? And — and is the President going to tell the Secretary of State to accelerate it?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Michael — Michael, I am telling you that there is a process. There are privacy concerns —

MICHAEL SHEAR: No, you’re saying things that aren’t the answer to the question. But I’m asking you: Will you answer the question?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: You may not like the answer to the question —

MICHAEL SHEAR: It isn’t an answer. (Laughs.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. We can go back and forth, but you also have colleagues who want to ask me questions —

STEVE HOLLAND: Karine, was the President — was he briefed?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I feel like I’m answering the question. Steve, you go.

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