Those choice words sought to explain why the White House has all but shut down what was once known as the daily briefing. The last one occurred on Dec. 18. (When a “Fox & Friends” co-host asked Sanders what the future may hold, she responded with the words of some rich, mendacious real-estate businessman with a feel for divisive politics. “Look, we’ll see what happens," she said.)

And indeed: April Ryan, Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks, secured a political-analyst slot at CNN in April 2017, after some noteworthy clashes with then-press secretary Sean Spicer and President Trump himself. In a memorable February 2017 news conference, Trump asked Ryan, who is black, if she could provide support services in arranging a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus. “Are they friends of yours?” he asked. Another outspoken correspondent — Brian Karem, White House reporter for Playboy magazine — also signed on with CNN after spirited exchanges in the briefing room.

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There is contempt in the White House for the idea that people would make a living by informing the public. In reference to former CIA director John Brennan, former director of national intelligence James Clapper and former FBI director James B. Comey, Sanders said in a briefing last July, "They’ve politicized and in some cases monetized their public service and security clearances.” Both Brennan and Clapper provide commentary for cable-news networks. “Making baseless accusations of improper contact with Russia, or being influenced by Russia, against the president is extremely inappropriate and the fact that people with security clearances are making these baseless charges provides inappropriate legitimacy to accusations with zero evidence.” Clapper is a CNN national security analyst; Brennan, whose security clearance the Trump administration revoked, is a commentator for NBC News/MSNBC.

Contempt for Ryan, however, appears singular. This past November, Trump riffed on the topic: “The same thing with April Ryan,” said Trump, addressing alleged disrespect toward Sanders in the briefing room. “I watched her get up. I mean, you talk about somebody that’s a loser. She doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing. She gets publicity, and then she gets a pay raise or she gets a contract with, I think, CNN. But she’s very nasty, and she shouldn’t be. She shouldn’t be. You’ve got to treat the White House and the office of the presidency with respect.” And Spicer added his thoughts to the dynamic earlier last year:

In light of all that, the Erik Wemple Blog asked Ryan if she thought Sanders’s comment on “Fox & Friends” — which could be interpreted as directed at future aspiring CNN contributors — qualified as a dig at her. Short answer, yes. Long answer, in part: “Why do they dislike me so much? … Why are they so upset, why are they trying to hold me down? It’s just crazy. … They’re scared of what I say, apparently, because I speak the truth … They’re so worried about me at CNN. It’s like they’re threatened by me, it’s ridiculous; they want me to grovel, they want me to not have anything; they want my children to lack. Why are they so worried about me and my CNN contract?" says Ryan, who has covered the White House for 22 years, stretching back into the Clinton years.

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The focus on CNN baffles Ryan, because other networks, including Fox News and MSNBC, pay generous sums for punditry as well. “Why are they singling out CNN and not Fox or Breitbart? You got a lot of people in that room trying to get contracts with Fox News and Breitbart. Why aren’t they screaming about that? And shame on them for picking on me.”

Trump’s reference to Ryan’s alleged “pay raise” has stuck with the correspondent. “What they’re doing is to disparage me and take food out of the mouths of my children. It is not okay for them to take food out of anybody’s mouth. Why do they keep coming after me? Why, what is the problem? … He’s got every building in the world with his name on it and because I work at CNN — no one’s talking about his money, he hasn’t [released] his tax returns, but he can talk about my money? That’s wrong."

“They want me to drown,” says Ryan, who lives in Baltimore and last year wrote a book on the Trump White House. “But I won’t. I know how to do the backstroke, the freestyle, the butterfly … I’m not Michael Phelps but we come from the same 'hood.”

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Moving to more logistical matters, Ryan says the dearth of press briefings has hurt her work as a radio reporter. “I need the audio,” she says. Integrating Sanders’s comments into a radio package, she says, “bring you in the room — you’re a part of it. It makes you a part of the story."