Trump Suspends CNN Analyst After Altercation At White House Summit!

At the summit, Karem had loudly declared that Trump supporters were “eager for demonic possession," which prompted Mr. Gorka to confront him.

Sebastian Gorka who confronted Brian Karem after his outburst at the social media summit thanked Trump and Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham for suspending Karem's credentials:

Fox News has more details on Karem's suspension and the events leading up to it:

Playboy senior White House reporter and CNN political analyst Brian Karem said Friday that the Trump administration temporarily suspended his credentials over a fiery spat with radio show host Sebastian Gorka last month.

Karem tweeted that he'd received an email from the White House telling him that as of Monday, his press pass would be "suspended for 30 days."

"Yes, I can and will appeal this decision," Karem added.

CNN reported that the White House cited Karem's behavior at the July 11 White House social media summit. While waiting for a presidential press conference following the summit, Karem and Gorka got into a shouting match after Karem described the summit attendees as “group of people that are eager for demonic possession."

"You're a journalist, right?" Gorka shouted from a distance.

"C'mon over here and talk to me, brother," Karem responded. "We can go outside and have a long conversation."

Gorka, a former White House aide, then asked Karem if he was "threatening" him in the Rose Garden.

“You're a punk, you're not a journalist, you're a punk,” Gorka yelled at Karem, who responded by urging Gorka to “get a job.”

The "America First" host celebrated the suspension on Twitter by taunting Karem.

"Thank you @realDonaldTrump, thank you @PressSec," Gorka told the president and White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham. "On behalf of Americans who’ve had enough of FakeNews punks like @BrianKarem."

The Washington Times has more:

The White House has suspended the press pass of journalist Brian Karem, who got into a verbal altercation with former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka at a Rose Garden event last month.                     

Mr. Karem said on Twitter that he received an email from the White House late Friday afternoon that his pass will be suspended for 30 days as of Monday. He is a writer for Playboy magazine and also an analyst for CNN.

                     

Mr. Karem said he will appeal the decision. Playboy called the suspension “incredibly concerning.”

                

“Since 1953, Playboy has fought to protect First Amendment rights, and the fight must continue today,” the magazine tweeted.

The Guardian via MSN also said:

The Trump administration has fired another shot in its war with the US press, suspending the credentials of Brian Karem, White House correspondent for Playboy and an analyst for CNN.

The 30-day revocation was announced on Friday and echoes hugely controversial action taken against CNN’s Jim Acosta in November 2018.

Acosta, a frequent irritation to Trump, had his pass taken away after the administration claimed he used inappropriate force in resisting an intern’s attempts to take a microphone from him during anews conference given by the president.

Karem had his pass suspended after an altercation with Breitbart reporter and former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka in the White House Rose Garden in July, around a “social media summit” convened by Trump and attended by some of his most ardent supporters. Both men attracted criticism for their behaviour.

In a letter to White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, Karem’s attorney Ted Boutrous, who also represented Acosta, described the decision as “arbitrary and unfair” and claimed the White House had not spoken to a single witness seen on video “taunting and/or threatening Mr Karem”.

Boutrous argued that the White House’s decision “violates the first amendment and due process and is yet another example of this administration’s unconstitutional campaign to punish reporters and press coverage that president Trump doesn’t like”.

He added: “The president and his administration are fostering an atmosphere of hostility and violence towards journalists that cannot be tolerated and they are illegally using the credential process to stifle freedom of the press and to disrupt the flow of vital information to the American people.”

In response, also posted online by Boutros’s law firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Grisham described Karem’s behaviour as “inappropriate” and repeated what he said to Gorka: “Hey brother we can talk anytime you want or go outside and have a long talk.”

In response, Gorka shouted at Karem: “You’re a punk! You’re not a journalist! You’re a punk!”