Seasoned reporter April Ryan alleges she was once told the only reason she was part of the White House press corp is that she’s black.
“A conservative black female reporter had openly, in my presence, spoke the wrong words, saying, ‘The only reason you get called on is because you’re black,'” revealed Ryan, who reports for American Urban Radio Networks.
In Ryan’s forthcoming new book, Under Fire: Reporting From The Front Lines of The Trump White House, Ryan says after the conservative reporter made the disparaging comment, she was irate and confronted her.
“To this day, those words don’t sit well with me,” Ryan writes. “At that time, I had had enough! ‘Yes!’ I said to her. ‘You ain’t shi*!’ In front of everyone, asking her, ‘Who do you think you are? You’re black, too, in case you didn’t know it!’ ”
Ryan confirmed the comment was made by Daily Mail White House reporter Francesca Chambers. Ryan said Chambers may have felt “entitled” and, “thought she could outperform a seasoned reporter who’d been there perhaps since before she was born.”
Ryan continued saying Chambers made the comment because she felt as if she were being overlooked by then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. “That was diminishing me,” Ryan said of the alleged incident.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Chambers who refuted Ryan’s claims in a statement released by the publication.
“It is a sad day for journalism when a reporter makes false claims against another reporter to sell a book,” the statement read. “Ms. Ryan knows what she has written to be false and she is also fully aware of the unacceptable way that she has treated Ms. Chambers in the White House for the past two years.’ “
Under Fire: Reporting From The Front Lines of The Trump White House comes out Sept. 1.
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