It’s easy to understand why President Trump has found so many supporters of his fake news narrative about the mainstream media when a really blatant mistake is made due simply to the anti-Trump bias of a White House correspondent. What is remarkable about this particular story is that the reporter’s producer clapped back right away to set the record straight.
April Ryan is the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks and a political analyst for CNN. She is frequently seen at White House press briefings going back and forth with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders as she asks questions in an aggressive manner, often in a snarky tone. She often takes to Twitter to keep the friction going. You may remember #PieGate during the holiday season.
Tuesday afternoon President Trump hosted a ceremony that was supposed to be in honor of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles but changed due to some last minute brouhaha. There were some 1,000 guests expected so Trump’s team turned the ceremony into a patriotic celebration to celebrate America on the South Lawn.
Tuesday’s event was originally meant as a celebration for the Philadelphia Eagles to honor the team for its Super Bowl victory. But President Trump rescinded the invitation, accusing the team of disagreeing “with their president because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.”
Earlier, during the White House briefing with Sanders, Ryan became quite animated as she asked her question on why Trump canceled the event with the Eagles.
LOVE that @AprilDRyan was steadfast today about getting her question in about how this #WhiteHouse has intentionally changed the narrative about why some #NFL players take a knee! It’s ALWAYS been about social injustice! #AprilRyan #FactsFirst #GoThere pic.twitter.com/2nhv55GHOR
— Jawn Murray (@JawnMurray) June 5, 2018
Ryan was so aggressive with Sanders during the White House press briefing that the press secretary couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Finally, Sanders had to say she’d be happy to answer the question if Ryan would stop talking long enough to allow it.
Reporter @AprilDRyan: “Is the president aware that taking the knee is about police-involved shootings?” @PressSec Sanders: “I would be happy to answer it if you would stop talking long enough to let me do that. The president has made his position crystal clear” #tictocnews pic.twitter.com/2OZXXsTdJF
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) June 6, 2018
As the celebration got underway, a heckler just behind the security rope began doing his thing. He clearly was not happy to be there when the Eagles were not. April Ryan lost no time in tweeting out a real ‘fake news’ tweet – that Trump was “heckled and booed when he came out to celebrate America.” She even claimed that her breaking information was confirmed by other reporters at the White House event. Minutes later her CNN White House producer tweeted her to call her on her misguided tweet. It was the heckler being booed, not President Trump.
This is not true. There was a protester who shouted at Trump and was booed. https://t.co/6zOSCifHFi
— Noah Gray (@NoahGrayCNN) June 5, 2018
So, what else could Ryan do but delete the tweet and publicly admit her mistake? She did admit the mistake in a later tweet but never apologized for it.
Breaking: reporters are rewatching the event and found a heckler in the crowd started asking questions of @realDonaldTrump and the heckler was booed. The heckler was escorted out of the event. The booes were for the heckler
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) June 5, 2018
The disgruntled guest yelled at the president, “stop hiding behind the armed services & the national anthem.” The crowd booed him and then added a sick burn. Someone called him a Cowboys fan. C’mon, that’s funny!
After being called a cowboys fan after shouting @ POTUS, protestor shouted “let’s hear it for the Eagles!” pic.twitter.com/KtEwAhOj6I
— Noah Gray (@NoahGrayCNN) June 5, 2018
Also noted by the CNN producer, who sure seems to be a lot sharper than April Ryan, was the act of kneeling during the National Anthem by another guest.
I did not see this man but this also happened at the event https://t.co/6iX9Jzh5g6
— Noah Gray (@NoahGrayCNN) June 5, 2018
And, not to be outdone, the heckler took a knee, too.
The man who was booed after shouting @ POTUS also took a knee during the anthem but appears to also sing the anthem while kneeling, based on pic by Olivier Douliery/ TNS. (He was behind me & I didn't turn around until I heard him shouting) pic.twitter.com/qwuqpEXrOE
— Noah Gray (@NoahGrayCNN) June 5, 2018
The left and their cohorts in the press continue to disregard the show of disrespect for the flag when a professional athlete kneels during the National Anthem. While the statement was originally about black Americans and police shootings, average Americans mostly see the protest as disrespectful. In Trump’s America, those dormant for the eight years of President Barack Obama suddenly remembered how to protest. The idea that these alleged acts of police brutality only popped up when Trump came into office is absurd. The event most often pointed to as the beginning from the grievance coalitions, the shooting of Michael Brown in St. Louis, happened during Obama’s last term in office. President Hope and Change did little to bring people together and much to divide people.
Ryan has her share of fans egging her on in her self-aggrandizing role of badassery. I’ll leave you with this little exchange between CNN anchor Don Lemon and Ryan. This is CNN. The kicker is when Ryan claims “so many” in the briefing room want to be friends with this administration to get information out of them. They sure have an odd way of going about that.
"What happened to the press corps?" – @DonLemon
"Many of the people in that room want to be friends with these administration folks … they're scared that … they'll be talked about. So what?!" – @AprilDRyan https://t.co/r9u3ht6Gah
https://t.co/tdYoYZ9ZPg— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) June 6, 2018
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