A Conservative News Site And A High-School Intern Massively Trolled The White House Today
In a terse exchange with White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, Finger asked about threats against George Zimmerman's family. Here's the exchange:
FINGER: Because of the death threats --
CARNEY: Can you tell me who you -- since I don't know you -- who you are?
FINGER: I’m Gabe Finger with The Daily Caller. Because of the death threats being received by George Zimmerman and his parents, is the President going to take any action for their security, or are they on their own?
CARNEY: Well, I think I would refer you to Florida authorities. I'm not aware of that story. But the President has called for echoing the statements of Trayvon Martin's family for a calm reflection in the wake of the verdict. And that continues to be his position. He certainly would oppose any violence of any kind.
FINGER: So they're on their own?
CARNEY: You can editorialize all you want, and I have no doubt that you will, but that is a ridiculous statement.
Politico subsequently reported that Finger is a junior at the Potomac School in Maryland. Daily Caller Director of Communications and Public Affairs Nicole Roeberg said Finger was a substitute for White House correspondent and regular attendee Neil Munro — which is probably why Carney didn't recognize him, and called on him.
She said that interns are regular attendees, and that the staff "he'd go to the briefing prepared with a good question and would represent us well."
After the brush with Carney, Finger marked the occasion with a short, perfect tweet (his account handle is "@GabeEmTheFinger):
The Daily Caller's Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel released a statement after the news that the Daily Caller sent a high-school intern was marked with surprise — and some scorn — by reporters and others on Twitter.
"Some reporters in Washington are asking why The Daily Caller sent our intern Gabe Finger to the White House press briefing this afternoon," they said.
"Talk about missing the point. The real question is, why did it take a 16-year-old intern to raise an obvious and important question that the White House press corps should have asked days ago? We don’t care how old Gabe Finger is. It doesn’t matter to us what his credentials are. All we care about is how well he does his job. Today he did it a lot better than most White House reporters."
They ended their statement with Whitney Houston lyrics, from "Greatest Love of All."