Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Myah Ward. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Eli It is not unusual during the White House briefing for reporters toward the back of the room, who are not routinely called on, to shout out a question. But none of them manage to derail the briefings as often as SIMON ATEBA, the correspondent for the website Today News Africa . His Wikipedia bio crisply notes that he “has gained online notoriety for being a nuisance and harassing the White House press secretary and talking constantly during White House press briefings, not allowing others to speak.” Last Thursday, press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE grew so annoyed by Ateba’s hectoring that she simply walked away from the podium. She ended the briefing early after he seemed more interested in berating her for not taking his question about this week’s African leaders summit, rather than stating his question and allowing her to respond. The frustration, on display from the podium and shared by many in the press corps, has been building for some time. Two weeks ago, Ateba spoke up during ANTHONY FAUCI ’s final briefing room appearance, demanding the administration say more about Covid-19’s origins after giving what he thought to be an unsatisfactory response to a reporter from the Daily Caller, a conservative website. His refusal to stop shouting at Fauci brought a sharp rejoinder from Jean-Pierre as she attempted to call on another reporter. “I hear your question, but we’re not doing this the way you want it,” she shot back. “This is disrespectful … Simon, I’m done. I’m done with you right now … you’re taking time away from your colleagues.” On Friday night, Ateba, a guest of the Fox News program hosted by TUCKER CARLSON, claimed Jean-Pierre, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, was “discriminating against me more than the white people.” Carlson, who helped found Daily Caller, immediately concurred: “She’s obviously a bigot.” Ateba, who is from Cameroon, later tweeted about his Fox appearance, asking for financial contributions to support his website, one of several such requests from his account. In an interview Monday with West Wing Playbook, Ateba continued to speak in stark terms, calling his time on the White House beat a “catastrophe” and “nightmare.” His anger, he said, stems from a lack of being called on. He noted he has a White House “hard pass” that allows him entrance onto the grounds but not a permanent seat in the briefing room. That means he often sits in seats left empty by other outlets — and sitting through briefings where television, radio, wire and major print correspondents in the first few rows, who are called on far more frequently, can ask repetitive questions. “I want to sit down in the briefing room and calmly raise my hand,” Ateba said. “But in the last three months, I’ve not been called on. Call me disruptive? I just want one fucking question, pardon my French. I just wanted to be treated equally like everyone else. The level of disdain, the level of contempt [for me] — I just want dignity and respect, the dignity you give other people.” The White House did not respond to a request for comment, although Monday afternoon, national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN called on Ateba from the podium. But respect, in the briefing room and other areas, is in the eye of the beholder. Ateba, who told us his site’s lone focus is “U.S.-Africa” relations, did get called on during a recent background briefing on the African leaders summit. And he got a briefing question in September when South African President CYRIL RAMAPHOSA met with JOE BIDEN at the White House. But instead of asking about the meeting, Ateba asked John Kirby, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, to respond to “Black people telling me that the reason you’re at the White House is to undermine the first female Black [press] secretary.” Another time Jean-Pierre called on him, in July, Ateba asked how former President DONALD TRUMP’s refusal to call off the Jan. 6 rioters at the Capitol was different from Biden taking a beach vacation in Delaware “when Supreme Court justices are under attack from a verbally violent mob” following the Dobbs ruling overturning abortion rights. He also derailed former press secretary JEN PSAKI’s final day at the podium, speaking over ABC’s MARY BRUCE as he complained about not being called on enough. That prompted a warning letter from STEVEN PORTNOY, then the president of the White House Correspondents' Association, threatening to revoke his membership over his “disruptive” behavior. And a litany of questionable posts by Ateba are floating around the internet, including a bizarre motivational YouTube video (NSFW is all we’ll say) and an “open letter” on his personal blog to a Nigerian actress informing her that a topless scene was only offensive because “you are really not attractive.” The WHCA board has made a point in recent weeks of reminding members about the need for decorum in the briefing room. The organization’s current president, TAMARA KEITH of NPR, wouldn’t comment on Ateba specifically, but she reiterated that briefing room shouting matches are in no one’s interests. “The White House Correspondents Association doesn't control access to the White House or the briefing room, but we strongly urge everyone who comes to the briefings to be respectful of their fellow journalists,” said Keith. “We absolutely understand the frustration that people have when they don’t get called on in a briefing, but that doesn't give anyone the right to shout over or disrupt someone who has been called on.” MESSAGE US — Are you RAHUL GUPTA, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy? We want to hear from you! And we’ll keep you anonymous. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com.
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