Brian Karem, a CNN political analyst and White House reporter for Playboy, said Friday that his White House press pass had been suspended for 30 days.
“Received an email today shortly before 5 p.m. from the WH: as of Monday afternoon my press pass is suspended for 30 days,” he tweeted, adding in a subsequent tweet that he planned to appeal the decision.
According to CNN media reporter Brian Stelter, the letter from newly installed White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham cited Karem’s behavior on July 11 when he got into a shouting match with intelligence analyst and former White House official Sebastian Gorka following a press event in the Rose Garden.
Video of the incident shows both parties verbally scrapping with each other, culminating with Gorka shouting into Karem’s face, “You’re not a journalist, you’re a punk.”
Reps for the White House and CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Late Friday, Gorka himself retweeted Karem’s announcement and added, “Don’t be a punk and you may get it back. Maybe not. PUNK.” In another tweet, he taunted, “From this day forth the punk @BrianKarem will be called Brian Karma.”
Karem becomes the second reporter to have his press pass threatened by the Trump White House. Last November, the White House press office moved to revoke the credentials of Jim Acosta, also of CNN.
The network filed a lawsuit to challenge the decision and a federal judge ultimately ordered the White House to back down. But Trump warned he would press the issue again for any journalists who violated what he called briefing “decorum.”