“You’ve got to be tough, especially to be in that room for 20 years.”
When Mr. Trump, at his news conference, tried to deputize Ms. Ryan as a liaison with
black lawmakers, Mr. Capehart recalled thinking: “What the hell just happened?”
“Does he think that all black people know each other and she’s going to go run off and set up a meeting for him?” Mr. Capehart said.
“I was appalled at the way Sean Spicer was treating you with such disrespect,” said a pained-sounding woman named Pam,
who said she had listened to Ms. Ryan, the White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, for years.
For April Ryan, Clashes With the White House Bring a New Kind of Prominence -
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUMMARCH 31, 2017
WASHINGTON — By the time April D. Ryan left the White House briefing room on Tuesday, she was already making headlines: on live television, President
Trump’s press secretary, Sean M. Spicer, had cut off her questions to chastise her for what he deemed an inappropriate shake of her head.
“It seems like you’re hellbent on trying to make sure
that whatever image you want to tell about this White House stays,” Mr. Spicer shot back from the lectern, after accusing Ms. Ryan of harboring an “agenda.” When Ms. Ryan tried to clarify, he interrupted.
“April is a tough reporter who knows how to throw it out and take it back,” Mr. Spicer said in an interview with the radio host Hugh Hewitt.
“You’re asking me a question and I’m going to answer it,” he said, adding in a tone: “I’m sorry, please stop shaking your head again.”
Mr. Spicer is belligerent on the best of days.
