White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tore into a CNN reporter on Thursday at a press briefing after the news outlet released details from a U.S. intelligence assessment that cast doubts on the effectiveness of the recent strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.
On Thursday, one day after President Donald Trump said CNN correspondent Natasha Bertrand should be "thrown out like a dog" for her coverage of the strikes on Iran, Leavitt called on her by name and accused her of being "used" by Washington insiders to "push a false narrative" about the attacks.
"This is a reporter who has been unfortunately used by people who dislike Donald Trump in this government to push fake and false narratives. She should be ashamed of herself," Leavitt said.
"That's not what reporting is. Journalism is trying to find the facts and the truth. And this week we saw this same reporter being used to push a fake narrative to try to undermine the president of the United States and more importantly the brave fighter pilots who conducted one of the most successful operations in United States history," Leavitt said. "And I think the American people fully know that this operation was a complete and total success."
CNN, which had been covering the press conference, quickly cut away, and the network's anchors defended Bertrand and her reporting.
"Our colleague Natasha Bertrand, who was singled out there repeatedly, is an excellent reporter," Brianna Keilar said. "And she and our colleagues who broke this story — as they did on this DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency] intelligence report — they made very clear that this was a preliminary report. That it is low confidence because it is preliminary. And we should also note it's a preliminary report that comes from the Trump administration."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.