CNN political analyst and White House Correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks April Ryan appeared on The Daily Show Wednesday night to promote her new book about her time as a correspondent called “Under Fire.” The anti-Trump tone was evident from the beginning of the interview, with Noah and Ryan joking that her birthday wish was for Trump to be out of the White House.
Welcoming her and acknowledging that it was Ryan’s birthday, Noah asked what she wished for. She chuckled and said, “I can’t tell you that.” At Noah’s smirk, she remarked, “You just got it, didn’t you!” The talk show host laughed and guessed, “I know exactly what it is. I feel like it's someone leaving office,” as the pair chuckled.
From there, Noah asked about her book’s title. “Do you consider yourself under fire?” he asked.
“Yes, I’'m warred upon. W-a-r-r-e-d upon!” Ryan answered, denying she had any different role now than she’s had as a correspondent for past administrations. “I think I'm an equal opportunity offender,” she defended herself, saying she had various liberal groups and presidents angry at her in the past. But, she claimed, the Trump administration has taken it “to another degree” “trying to discredit me” and “kill my career.”
Ryan huffed at critics who suggest she’s biased. “I'm a journalist, I’m not an activist journalist,” she denied.
Well, she admitted, she is an activist for something:
“I’m an activist for truth who is activating the freedom of the press and walking in that. Because if we don't ask those questions, you are not going to find out what is happening,” she gushed, adding that John McCain was “absolutely right” that Trump was going down the path towards “dictatorship” by attacking the press.
That led Noah to ask the self righteous journalist if her profession now has a “purpose” with Trump as President.
“I see how vexed you get as reports and journalists together. Do you feel like that room has a purpose now under Trump?” he questioned. Ryan responded that they’ve always had a purpose:
“The room always has a purpose. It is about transparency. And do we get answers? We get the answers that they want to give us. It may not necessarily be the truth. It could be spin,” she replied, adding that they were now at a “critical time” with Trump in the White House:
“We are at a critical time. We are at a time of crisis, political crisis. We are at a national security crisis. There is so much on the table but this president smiles and acts like it's okay and it's not,” she ranted.
For his final question, Noah got more personal, drawing out the race card that Ryan and her peers continually use, asking if the White House “retaliated” against Ryan because she was a “black woman:”
There is no denying that America's press for a very long time, especially the mainstream press has had a particularly white male dominated skew. Alright. And so in that press room you have a unique position and you talk about this in the book. You are in a position where you are a journalist but you cannot deny where you come from, who you are as a person. Do you think that maybe some of their retaliatory feeling towards you is that it feels like you are doing something that is oppositional because you are a black woman?
Ryan quickly replied that it was obvious there was racism involved. “It feels like, I would say if you taste taste it, smell it, touch it, it is what it is,” she stated as the audience applauded.
