A bit of an awkward moment popped up at the White House briefing yesterday during the Q&A portion of the proceedings. The President called on a female reporter who began her “question” with a lengthy statement about how the Chinese government and various Chinese companies have been donating medical equipment and supplies to the United States. Trump then pressed her as to whether or not she had an actual question to ask or if she was just there to make a statement in support of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). At that point, the reporter asked if Trump was “cooperating with China” or not. And that’s when President Trump had clearly had enough. (Daily Caller)

The reporter interjected to ask Trump, “Are you cooperating with China?”

Trump shot back: “Who are your working for, China?”

“Do you work for China, or are you with a newspaper? Who are you with?” he continued.

The reporter said that she works for Phoenix TV.

“Who owns that, China? Is it owned by China? Is it owned by the state?” Trump pressed.

Here’s the video via the Daily Caller’s Twitter feed.

President Trump asks a reporter "who are you working for, China?"

She says that her company is private and based in Hong Kong. pic.twitter.com/jDNcAlO4Y4

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 6, 2020

President Trump may have thought he was simply getting in a clever jab at the reporter. That’s understandable because the amount of cover that our own media outlets have been providing for the CCP during this pandemic has been revolting. But in this case, it turns out that Trump was on the right track whether he knew it at the time or not.

As the Daily Caller reveals, the reporter works for Phoenix TV. While the reporter claimed that the outlet is “a private company,” it’s not exactly a hard-hitting, unbiased news outlet. It’s been defined as a “quasi-official” news outlet with close ties to the CCP. It’s owned by a former Chinese military officer and is known for coverage that is “typically favorable to the CCP.”

Phoenix TV has recently made waves by running video of confessions from Chinese citizens who have been “detained” for criticizing the CCP. (Confessions that were probably obtained under severe duress, to say the least.) In other words, they’re an outlet for Chinese governmental propaganda. So in a way, Trump’s accusation was pretty much on the nose. She may not be a directly paid employee of the CCP, but she is at least indirectly doing their work for them.

The real question is how someone with those dubious credentials wound up at the briefing and managed to get in a question for the President. Aren’t they screening the reporters to determine who does or doesn’t get a press pass anymore? Someone should take a quick look around the room at the next briefing and make sure we don’t have a reporter from Iranian state television in there.