On Friday, Donald Trump Jr. slammed Washington Post reporter, Erik Wemple, over his incessant whining on Twitter about the White House’s decision to suspend the hard pass of Playboy White House correspondent and CNN contributor, Brian Karem, for 30 days after Karem’s explosive outburst against Sebastian Gorka on July 11.
“Your disruptive behavior at the press event in the Rose Garden on July 11, 2019, violated the basic standards governing such events and as is, in our preliminary judgement, sufficient factual basis to suspend your hard pass for 30 days,” White House Press Secretary, Stephanie Grisham, wrote to him. “Your gross breach of decorum and disruption of the orderly functioning of a White House press event cannot be tolerated.”
“Insanity: The White House has suspended the hard pass of Playboy White House correspondent Brian Karem through Sept. 14, based on a Rose Garden imbroglio with Sebastian Gorka on July 11,” Wemple wrote, adding: “The letter from White House Press Secretary, Stephanie Grisham, shows the lengths to which this White House will go to revive and weaponize a spat that everyone had forgotten about.”
Wemple tried to downplay the entire incident as being a “joke,” claiming “people laughed,” when in reality the incident was a fairly heated confrontation that was embarrassing to a number of people who were present that worked in the media.
Trump Jr. responded to Wemple, writing on Twitter, “Are you saying that his unprofessional conduct that wouldn’t be tolerated in a local dive bar should be tolerated in the White House?”
Trial lawyer Harmeet K. Dhillon was in attendance and wrote the following about the incident: “I personally witnessed the thuggish punk behavior of Brian Karem in the Rose Garden that day. Your attempts to minimize it as an ‘imbroglio’ do a disservice to your profession. Not every journalist deserves a press pass to the White House — particularly if out of control/abusive.”
Karem, who is known for his belligerent antics, announced shortly after the White House’s decision that he “will now go to court and sue.”