White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called an Irish journalist a “left-wing hack” during a heated exchange at a press briefing, escalating tensions between the administration and the press over immigration enforcement.
The clash unfolded after Niall Stanage, a Dublin-born journalist with U.S. political newspaper The Hill, asked about the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis. Seeking an assessment from the White House, Stanage framed the incident by describing ICE officers’ actions as “reckless.”
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Leavitt immediately pushed back. “You’re a biased reporter with a left-wing opinion,” she said, accusing Stanage—along with much of the American media—of slanting coverage on immigration enforcement.
As the exchange grew more confrontational, Leavitt questioned Stanage’s legitimacy as a reporter. “You’re not a reporter, you’re posing in this room as a journalist,” she said. “You’re pretending like you’re a journalist but you’re a left-wing activist.”
She continued: “Yeah, because you’re a left-wing hack, you’re not a reporter, you’re posing in this room as a journalist and it’s so clear by the premise of your question.” Leavitt added, “And you and the people in the media who have such biases but fake like you’re a journalist, you shouldn’t even be sitting in that seat. But you’re pretending like you’re a journalist but you’re a left-wing activist.”
Stanage had pressed for the White House’s view of the Jan. 7 shooting of Good, which has drawn attention to ICE’s use of force and the federal government’s posture on immigration enforcement. His characterization of the officers’ conduct prompted Leavitt’s response, which broadened into a broader critique of national media coverage.
The back-and-forth highlights the fraught dynamic inside the briefing room as questions about immigration, law enforcement and accountability dominate political debate. It also reflects a wider clash over how news organizations frame rapidly unfolding incidents involving federal agents and the communities they police.
Leavitt did not address the substance of Stanage’s question in her remarks as quoted during the exchange. The Hill is a Washington-based outlet that covers U.S. politics and policy; Stanage is a longtime correspondent and commentator for the publication.
Rhetorical confrontations between presidents’ spokespeople and reporters are not uncommon at the White House, but public accusations that a credentialed journalist is an activist or “hack” are rare and often spark broader conversations about press freedom and the role of the briefing room. The latest clash is likely to intensify scrutiny of both the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement and the standards of political journalism in a polarized media environment.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
