Outgoing White House press secretary Jen Psaki heckled during final briefing

White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s final briefing went off the rails after one reporter repeatedly shouted at her from the back of the room.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s final briefing with reporters went off the rails on Friday after one reporter repeatedly shouted a question about fair access in the room.

As Psaki began to take questions – after fighting back tears as she thanked members of the Biden administration and the press corps – Simon Ateba, the chief White House correspondent for Today News Africa, was heard yelling from the back of the press briefing room, the NY Post reports.

“Why don’t you take questions from across the room?” Ateba asked, as Associated Press reporter Zeke Miller attempted to get things started with a query about the ongoing baby formula shortage.

“Why don’t you take questions from across the room? Because that’s not what you’ve done for the past 15 months,” Ateba shouted again.

Psaki was not initially phased by Ateba’s lack of decorum. However, the reporter shouted over his colleagues again minutes later.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s final briefing with reporters went off the rails. Picture: Nicholas Kamm/AFP

“Jen, can I ask you a question from the back?” he was heard saying. “Jen, can I ask you a question from the back?”

As Ateba continued to speak over reporters in the front row who attempted to question Psaki, NPR’s Tamara Keith turned around and urged him to stop.

“Simon, please, stop,” he said.

Ateba did not oblige and continued to shout over other reporters in the room, until Psaki finally turned to him to say, “Simon, if you can respect your colleagues and other media and reporters in here, that would be greatly appreciated.”

Psaki has been criticised in the past for strictly sticking to answering questions from reporters in the first few rows of the briefing room, often missing out on questions from outlets such as The Post, the Washington Examiner, Al Jazeera and other foreign media.

Simon Ateba, the chief White House correspondent for Today News Africa. Picture: Twitter

After the raucous protest, Peter Alexander of NBC News said he would voluntarily limit himself to two questions to allow more colleagues to have a turn. Front-row journalists routinely help themselves to a half-dozen queries, outraging fellow reporters who can go weeks or months without being called on.

Historically, White House reporters have adhered to an informal norm of limiting exchanges to two questions.

Since covering the Biden administration, Ateba has frequently sparred with Psaki – going as far as to accuse her of lying about coronavirus-related travel restrictions in December.

“You are saying something that is false,” Ateba shouted at Psaki at the time, speaking once again over his colleagues.

“I just answered – Simon, I answered a question on this,” Psaki said as he continued to attempt to get his question in.

“Let’s let [Voice of America reporter] Patsy [Widakuswara] ask a question.”

She later scolded Ateba when he persisted, telling him it wasn’t “effective to scream over your colleagues in here”.

I am honored that @POTUS trusted me to speak on his behalf. The @WhiteHouse is about the people. I am deeply grateful to the public servants (including my faves on the press team) who have made this job the experience of a lifetime. You've got this @KJP46! Follow me @jrpsakipic.twitter.com/N4Upj8MOeM

— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) May 13, 2022

The same month, Ateba accused the restrictions of being “racist” as they targeted southern African countries. The African journalist also has a history of interrupting briefing guests, including Biden’s chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci.

Since the start of the administration, the White House has defended the access it has given to members of the press. However, at the same time, the press office has pre-screened journalists allowed within earshot of the President at regular events in the East Room and the White House-adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office building – when comparable events were open to all journalists in prior administrations.

The criteria for selecting reporters allowed into those events was never explained to the White House press corps and leaders of the White House Correspondents’ Association remain in the dark.

Psaki has refused to explain the criteria for choosing which reporters are allowed to attend presidential events, but the practice is believed to be a way of shaping the variety of questions presented to the President. Reporters have been given a range of conflicting explanations and some major news outlets, including The Post, are almost never permitted to attend.

This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Outgoing White House press secretary Jen Psaki heckled during final briefing