April Ryan fires back: Won’t "break bread" with White House that "considers me the enemy"

American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) White House correspondent April Ryan has been a consistently tough journalist during her 20-year tenure in the Brady Briefing Room, but doing her job well has earned Ryan nothing but overt hostility from Donald Trump and his minions.

That hostility was expressed this week when Ryan was inexplicably excluded from the White House Christmas reception for reporters and their families.

While her colleagues attended the event Friday, Ryan posted a message firing back at the Trump White House, saying that she had not planned to attend to go in the first place.

The reasons she gave, and her plans going forward, demonstrate the fearlessness that earned Ryan the 2017 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Journalist of the Year award:

RYAN: The White House placed a target on my head, they did it that in August, when they did that campaign ad calling me, along with other people were not White House correspondents, who were talk show hosts, as the enemy.

So with that said, I will not break bread with someone who considers me the enemy and puts a target on my head… I also am emboldened and empowered by the fact that the First Amendment covers me. Freedom of the press!

This is the latest in a string of attacks on Ryan launched by the White House. In August, Trump went after her in a campaign ad. Ryan was also verbally attacked in person by Trump and both of his press secretaries. Despite this, she has fearlessly continued to press the administration on the issues that matter.

Meanwhile, the White House Christmas party, which was also boycotted by CNN, turned out to be a characteristically Trumpian disaster.

According to the New York Times, the reporters who did attend used the opportunity to pepper Trump with questions about disgraced (and now convicted) former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Events such as these are normally considered “off the record,” and not occasions for news gathering.

Trump responded by refusing to answer those questions, and then skipping the photo line that presidents normally participate in at the event.

“The president did find time to greet Maria Bartiromo, the Fox Business host, complimenting her on her ratings,” the Times noted.

Unlike his praise for Fox employees, Trump has shown nothing but disdain toward powerful journalists like Ryan. But like the professional she is, Ryan isn’t letting that stop her from doing her crucial work.