The crisis in the Gaza strip has heightened tensions between journalists and State Department officials in the briefing room.
During a press conference on Monday, Associated Press reporter Matthew Lee ripped into State Department Press Secretary Victoria Nuland, hitting her with rapid-fire questions about the administration’s approach to the recent violence between Israel and Hamas.
The two-minute exchange reached its peak as Lee questioned Nuland about the administration’s non-response to
Turkey calling Israel a “terrorist state.”
Nuland said she didn’t want to get into a “public spitting match” with allies.
To which Lee responded: “And you think that's worse? A public spitting match is worse than hundreds of people dying every day?”
Dismissing the question, Nuland replied: “You’re just looking for a fight.”
A lifelong foreign service agent, Nuland has achieved modest Internet fame for … her eyebrows. Apparently, she famously raises her eyebrows when she speaks—there’s a
Facebook page dedicated to it.
So, how’d she handle Lee’s barrage of questions?
RELATED: Government PR pros and reporters are really mean to each other
(via
The Huffington Post)