Fox’s John Roberts Calls Out ABC’s Jonathan Karl for ‘Petty Effort at Shaming’ Him for Not Wearing a Mask (UPDATED)
@JonKarl
Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts and ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl feuded on Twitter Monday, Roberts accused Karl of “shaming” him for briefly removing his coronavirus face mask at the White House press briefing.
During President Donald Trump’s briefing, Karl tweeted, “Almost everybody in the Rose Garden is wearing a mask — almost everybody,” with photos that included one of Roberts without a mask.
Almost everybody in the Rose Garden is wearing a mask — almost everybody. pic.twitter.com/JBnEV05HOd
— jonkarl (@jonkarl) May 11, 2020
A few hours later, Roberts shot back, explaining that he “was quietly seated more than 6′ away from the closest person (adhering to CDC social distancing guidelines),” and that when “the press conference began, I put mask on” — a claim backed up by other photographs which showed Roberts wearing his mask.
“So – what, exactly is the basis for this petty effort at shaming?” he questioned.
Facts – I was quietly seated more than 6′ away from the closest person (adhering to CDC social distancing guidelines)
-When the press conference began, I put mask on.
So – what, exactly is the basis for this petty effort at shaming???? https://t.co/ctW4knjkyD— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) May 11, 2020
In a statement to The Hill, Karl said, “It was an extraordinary scene. I wasn’t shaming anybody. I simply tweeted four photos showing just about everybody wearing a mask in the Rose Garden — something we have never seen before.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Karl apologized for the tweet, posting, “Yesterday I tweeted photos of the extraordinary scene in the Rose Garden. The photo of @johnrobertsfox left the wrong impression.”
“He is a good reporter who cares about protecting his colleagues and his family. He was practicing social distancing,” Karl continued. “I did not mean to imply otherwise.”
Yesterday I tweeted photos of the extraordinary scene in the Rose Garden. The photo of @johnrobertsfox left the wrong impression. He is a good reporter who cares about protecting his colleagues and his family. He was practicing social distancing. I did not mean to imply otherwise
— jonkarl (@jonkarl) May 12, 2020
Just last month, Karl was defended by Roberts’ Fox News colleague Ed Henry, who said on his show, “I want to say, by the way, when I covered President Obama we were pretty much side-by-side there, and there were many times that the Obama White House tried to dismiss my questions and say, ‘You’re just playing gotcha because you’re at Fox.'”
“It was Jon Karl, that man right there, who more often than not said, ‘Hang on a second, that’s a fair question, why don’t you answer it,’ and he would persist,” Henry said, concluding, “My point being, he does challenge both sides.”
This story has been updated to include Karl’s statement and follow-up tweet.
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