White House Reporter Accuses Biden Press Shop of ‘Blacklisting’ Him After Karine Jean-Pierre Says Other Reporters Complained

A White House correspondent with a reputation for confronting — and confounding — press secretaries said he has been blacklisted by the White House communications shop.

Today News Africa chief White House correspondent Simon Ateba told Mediaite he has been blackballed by the White House, and that Karine Jean-Pierre, press secretary for President Joe Biden, told him this week that several reporters complained to her about his conduct during briefings.

“I can confirm that I have been blacklisted by the White House following my question to John Kirby more than a month ago,” Ateba said.

“As a result of me being blacklisted, I have not been called on for over a month now, and several White House officials told me that some unnamed people went to complain to Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre not to call on me,” he continued.

Ateba told Mediaite those unnamed people were his fellow White House reporters.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

During the Sept. 16 White House press briefing, Kirby, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, took exception to Ateba asking if he’s the “second press secretary” at the White House.

This was not the first tense exchange between Ateba and Kirby.

Kirby rebuked Ateba during the Aug. 4 White House press briefing for shouting over a fellow reporter.

“This is the White House press briefing room, and you need to be more respectful,” Kirby said. “I am going to call on this reporter.”

The day before, Kirby objected to Ateba asking if the United States believes “that the lives of Kenyans and Tanzanians don’t really matter” following the U.S. airstrike that killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was responsible for the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998 that killed hundreds of people. Ateba noted that “even though the U.S. compensated U.S. citizens who were victims of those bombings, the people in Kenya and Tanzania — they’ve received nothing.”

“Wow. I got to take issue with that. I did not say that. And I don’t even know where you came from on that one. Of course, all lives matter,” replied Kirby.

“And I really, really take exception to the — to the tone and the implication in that question. Of course, their lives matter. Every life matters, particularly a life taken so violently as by the hands of a terrorist,” he added. “If those lives didn’t matter, sir, we wouldn’t have taken the action that we took this weekend. And if those lives didn’t matter, sir, we wouldn’t be staying vigilant to the threat going forward, which we will do.”

In his statement to Mediaite, Ateba called on Jean-Pierre “to do the right thing and call on me.”

“She’s in a difficult situation right now and needs help to do the right thing and call on me,” he said. “The skies will not fall.”

Ateba, who is from Cameroon, also alleged a racist double standard against him.

“In addition, the people who went to complain include a few people in the briefing room who have asked many questions that most Americans disagree with or even laughed at,” he said.

“I am being discriminated against because I am Black and African and have that distinctive African accent and therefore sound different,” he added.

Ateba argued that other reporters have clashed with the White House and not faced consequences. On the other hand, Ateba was threatened with expulsion by the White House Correspondents’ Association for disrupting Jen Psaki’s last press briefing as press secretary on May 13.

“Your disruptive behavior at last Friday’s briefing interrupted your colleagues and reflected poorly on the press corps,” the president of the WHCA told Ateba in an email. “There is no right of any reporter to be called on by any official. Preventing your colleagues from asking their questions is no way to seek relief.”

Ateba concluded his statement by defending his conduct.

“I believe that since the United States is the citadel of press freedom, and the White House is the most powerful place in the world, if I cannot ask any question that I have at the White House without fear of retaliation, then the U.S. may be losing its prestige and shine,” he said.