Playboy 'Reporter' Gets His Patootie Handed to Him After Cheap Shot Attack on Kayleigh McEnany

Playboy reporter Brian Karem is a notoriously unprofessional media figure who has clashed with the Trump White House in the past. He’s also known for engaging in the Acosta-like “journalistic” practice of yelling at the targets of his ire, as he’s done numerous times with White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany during press briefings as she’s walked away from the podium.

Because McEnany has pulled no punches in the past in response to his antics, Karem has made it a point to routinely attack her on Twitter in hopes of getting a rise out of her. The only thing it typically accomplishes is proving to everyone what a desperate, attention-seeking, misogynistic pig he actually is.

But earlier today Karem found himself on the receiving end of an especially-deserving smackdown from McEnany’s defenders in and out of the White House after the cheap shot swipe he took at her in response to a predictably misleading video tweet about her from Vox.com’s Aaron Rupar:

McEnany dismisses public health guidelines to slow the spread of coronavirus as "Orwellian" pic.twitter.com/S70IbQIce6

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 18, 2020

Karem actually thought this reply made him look super-cool. It didn’t:

I dismiss @PressSec as moronic, insipid, inconsequential, insignificant, indefatigably insane and irrelevant. Now go get your shine box. https://t.co/U2syYTEE1t

— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) November 18, 2020

Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews blasted back (McEnany RTd her response):

And I dismiss “reporter” @BrianKarem of Playboy as a sad and pathetic man masquerading as a journalist who is intimidated by smart, successful, and strong women. https://t.co/VvWqowhDgZ

— Sarah Matthews (@SarahAMatthews1) November 18, 2020

As did assistant White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who called Karem “a disrespectful clown” and correctly pointed out that he is not a real journalist:

I second that.

And for the record, @BrianKarem, posting videos of yourself yelling absurd questions at the President and Press Secretary as they walk away from the podium is not journalism.

You are not a reporter. You are a disrespectful clown. And everyone knows it. https://t.co/91PSeq9Sh1

— Karoline Leavitt (@kc_leavitt) November 18, 2020

White House comms director Alyssa Farah didn’t hold back either, also emphasizing the fact that what Karem routinely does is not “journalism” in any real, meaningful sense of the word:

Here’s what drives me crazy: I fundamentally respect & will always advocate for the role of the free press in covering our govt. But then there are clowns like this guy who are unserious, biased, unprofessional & cruel who we are expected to treat like a serious journalist 🙄 https://t.co/vGmXz2Y34W

— Alyssa Farah (@Alyssafarah) November 18, 2020

Though it’s not well-known because CNN likes to keep it a secret, Karem is also a political analyst for their network, which should surprise absolutely no one:

Exactly. And the fact that he was a CNN political analyst for much of this administration shows everyone what kind of news organization they are https://t.co/UhBqu4nMY2

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 18, 2020

As a side note, there was also this criticism of the particular line of attack from Karem where he told McEnany to “go get your shine box”:

Political analysis from somebody so stupid he totally doesn't get the point of the shine box scene is, well yeah that totally makes sense in 2020 now that I think about it. https://t.co/BoYXx5sCFv

— Jon Lustig (@jonlustig) November 18, 2020

Guess he forgot how that scene ended? Let’s refresh his memory a bit:

As I’ve said before, it’s easy to see why the White House reacts as they do sometimes to reporters when you watch how performance “journalists” like Karem (and CNN’s Jim Acosta) conduct themselves. In fact, Karem’s fellow reporters in the press corps often rush to defend his unprofessional antics while at the same time working to get conservative news outlets like OANN kicked out of the daily press briefings.

Makes no sense until you understand that the only difference between Karem and the rest of the White House press corps is that he has even less control over his bias and obsession with being the center of attention than the rest of them do.

By the way, make sure to watch in full the clip Rupar tweeted out from McEnany’s Fox News interview from earlier today in order to get the true sense of what she said rather than assume his spin is accurate. It isn’t, which shouldn’t be the least bit shocking for anyone who is familiar with how the notoriously deceptive Rupar operates.