Playboy's White House correspondent was berated on Twitter this week following his dubious tweet about a chance encounter with an anti-Trump Hispanic boy.
Brian Karem previously became a media darling for yelling at White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a June press conference. On Thursday, Karem tweeted he encountered a Hispanic boy on the Washington D.C. Metro who shared his dislike of the Trump administration.
Met a young Hispanic boy while riding Metro. Saw my press credentials and asked me "why does the President hate me?" @realDonaldTrump
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) August 24, 2017
I had nuthin. His mother looked sad.
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) August 24, 2017
While the tweet netted thousands of retweets, others pointed out how the story was impossible to verify, and how it coincidentally confirmed Karem's biases.
Met a young Hispanic boy who asked me a question confirming all my pre-existing biases! Coincidence! https://t.co/xeGayF4Jel
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 24, 2017
Oh c'mon
Did you later ride in his Dad's taxi & get his thoughts on the economic aspects of Mexico paying for the wall? https://t.co/n9cyMEwu4u
— Jim Hanson (@Uncle_Jimbo) August 24, 2017
This is so crazy. Just yesterday a 6 month old girl saw my twitter feed and asked me why Amazon chose Whole Foods as an acquisition target. https://t.co/VFz56ZzTMi
— Andy Swan (@AndySwan) August 25, 2017
Met a young Hispanic boy while riding Metro. Saw my press credentials and asked "why do reporters tweet sketchy, unverifiable anecdotes?" https://t.co/Ut9EoJpEft
— jon gabriel (@exjon) August 24, 2017
Well known fact that young boys riding the subway are always caught up on the latest political issues, & know what WH press credentials are https://t.co/k5rUsvgYSY
— Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) August 24, 2017
The saddest part of this story is that Brian wears his press creds on the Metro. https://t.co/09h0lnzzPP
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) August 24, 2017
I met the same kid, and he said Brian Karem had slapped him. I have the same evidence he does.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) August 24, 2017
Was he 9 years old? Because it's usually 9 year olds who share that kind of insight.
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) August 24, 2017
I was on the bus, a wall was standing next to me. It looked up @ me w/tears in its eyes & asked "why hasn't the President built me?" #oosh pic.twitter.com/sk2FTmkNxP
— Jacques (@JacquesFrankB) August 24, 2017
What young kid recognizes press credentials?
— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) August 25, 2017
Two days before his chance encounter with the Hispanic boy, Karem tweeted about another poignant moment with a veteran.
Met a man today who served in Afghanistan 16 yrs ago -now says his son serves there. Let that sink in as you support perpetual war
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) August 22, 2017
Coincidentally, the concept was also the premise of an Onion parody article released an hour earlier.
Soldier Excited To Take Over Father’s Old Afghanistan Patrol Route https://t.co/1RCz054E69 pic.twitter.com/7yRh9NePOw
— The Onion (@TheOnion) August 22, 2017