Right-wing reporter crashes Trump briefing AGAIN after she was banned for ignoring coronavirus social distancing rules – The Sun

A REPORTER who was banned from President Trump's press briefings after ignoring social distancing rules has gatecrashed the White House once again.

Chanel Rion, who works for right wing One American News Network (OANN), had vowed she was going to continue attending the junkets.

And keeping her word paid off. During her fourth day on the trot of attending the pressers, she was called on by Trump to ask a question.

Rion had been given the boot by the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) on Wednesday, after falling foul of two new rules the group had imposed.

As a way to manage the coronavirus epidemic, the WHCA placed temporary measures on who can attend the sessions.

Just 14 reporters are allowed in, with the outlets rotating every day, and journalists must be seated.

Rion attended a briefing on Monday, as scheduled, but then returned on Tuesday. Despite being asked to leave, she refused, and remained standing at the back of the room. On Wednesday, she returned again, and the WHCA took a vote to ban OANN from White House press briefings, saying it did "not take this action lightly".

The reporter has said she is a guest of Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, and so is allowed to stand at the back of the room during the session.

On Thursday morning Rion defended her behavior, saying she did not put any fellow reporters at risk, and said she would be attending the briefing later that day, in spite of the ban.

"I spoke with Stephanie Grisham," Rion told her colleague Jennifer Franco, in a live interview. "We discussed the situation and she invited me again to attend the briefing [on Thursday], as her guest, standing in the back. And I will be in the briefing room today if there's no physical complications with that."

At Thursday's briefing, Rion took her spot at the back, where Trump pointed at her and asked: "You had one in the back please?"

Rion went on to ask the President and Jared Kushner about the data being collected on needed healthcare supplies, and whether needs for hand sanitizer are rising across the country.

Trump deferred to Kushner to comment.

"Photographers are standing in that pathway," Rion added, during her live broadcast. "For the most part, you see a lot of them getting a lot closer than six feet. I was away from the majority of the people for the majority of the time."

As per nationwide guidelines, individuals should keep a distance of six feet away, in order to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Reporters in White House press briefings must sit in assigned seats so they remain a certain distance away from each other.

In a statement, Jonathan Karl, president of the WHCA, said in order to comply with the social distancing guidelines, and to ensure the health and safety of the press corps and White House staff, "there is no room for reporters who do not have an assigned seat today, or on any given day, to be standing in the briefing room".

OANN founder and chief executive Charles Herring said his reporter's presence was "appropriate", but declined to say who from the White House invited Rion to the briefing.

The Sun has reached out to OANN and the White House for comment.

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