Fox News’s John Roberts Leaves WH Briefing Early, Chides Sanders for Camera Ban

Fox News’s John Roberts left Tuesday’s press briefing with Sarah Huckabee Sanders early, quipping on his way out that he would have stayed had the briefing been on-camera.

In an audio released of the full briefing, you can hear deputy press secretary Sanders remark “John Roberts is bored today, he’s headed out.”

“If it were on-camera I might not,” Roberts shot back, chiding Sanders for the decision to hold the briefing off-camera. Reporters in the briefing room let out a chorus of “Oohs”.

The chief White House correspondent for Fox News later said on Twitter that he left to film a live shot, as the press briefing was held off-camera and he could not air anything from it:

To all who are musing over me leaving the @SHSanders45 Briefing…I have a live shot. Had the brief been on camera, it would 1/2

— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) July 18, 2017

Would have been on TV, not me. I would have waited until it was over.

— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) July 18, 2017

Roberts had earlier in the day pointed out that the Trump administration’s last on-camera briefing was weeks ago:

Today’s @WhiteHouse is off camera. The last on-camera briefing was June 29th.

— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) July 18, 2017

Following a contentious few months between reporters and press secretary Sean Spicer, on-camera briefings have become rare, replaced by off-cameras or even smaller press gaggles.

And White House reporters — most notably CNN’s Jim Acosta — have repeatedly chastised Spicer’s communications shop for scaling back press access just six months into the new administration.

Watch above, via Fox News.

[image via screengrab]

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