Chaos erupts at the White House press briefing as KJP shuts down questions about COVID origins

'It is not your turn!' Jean-Pierre fired back. 'I hear your question, but we're not doing this the way you want it. This is disrespectful …. Simon, I'm done. Simon, I'm done. I'm done with you right now. You're taking time away from your colleagues.'

Chaos erupts at the White House press briefing as KJP shuts down questions about Covid origins
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
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The daily briefing at the White House was thrown into disarray on Tuesday after Daily Caller correspondent Diana Glebova attempted to ask Dr. Anthony Fauci questions about the origin of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Cutting off the journalist, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre snapped at reporters who attempted to intervene on behalf of the DC journalist. Jean-Pierre rebuked Glebova for speaking out of turn, prompting protests from other journalists.

"We have a process here. I'm not calling out on people who yell. And you're being you're being you're being disrespectful to your colleagues, and you're being disrespectful to our guest," Jean-Pierre said. "I will not call on you if you yell, and also you're taking time off the clock because Dr. Fauci has to leave in a couple of minutes." 

When Glebova tried to interject, Jean-Pierre cut her off and said she was “done” and wouldn’t be “getting into a back and forth” with the journalist.

Journalist Simon Ateba spoke up to protest the shutdown and said Glebova’s question demanded an answer.

"You need to call people across the room! She has a valid question, she's asked about the origin of COVID," Ateba said. 

"It is not your turn!" Jean-Pierre fired back. "I hear your question, but we're not doing this the way you want it. This is disrespectful …. Simon, I'm done. Simon, I'm done. I'm done with you right now. You're taking time away from your colleagues." 

Dr. Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has repeatedly refused to provide answers about the government organization’s involvement and funding of gain-of-function research that is understood to have been conducted in China.

As detailed by Fox News, NIAID provided millions in funding to EcoHealth Alliance, a group that Republicans say supported coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.

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