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Sean Spicer and April Ryan Clear the Air During Press Briefing

March 29, 2017

White House spokesman Sean Spicer and reporter April Ryan cleared the air during Wednesday's press briefing after the two had a heated exchange the prior day that caused an uproar among some journalists.

During Tuesday's press briefing, Spicer told Ryan, an American Urban Radio Networks correspondent, to "stop shaking her head" as he was answering her question on alleged ties between President Trump's campaign and Russian officials.

Some in the media took Spicer's comment as a demeaning insult, accusing him of treating Ryan unfairly because she is an African-American woman.

But on Wednesday the two seemed to put the issue behind them.

After giving his daily briefing, Spicer gave the first question to Ryan, who responded by thanking the press secretary.

"Why, thank you, Sean," Ryan said.

Spicer replied by asking, "How are you today?"

"I'm fine. How are you?" she asked.

"Fantastic," Spicer responded.

Reporters in the room laughed during the exchange.

Ryan then went on to ask her question about Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, not wanting to recuse himself from the investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

"Nunes is not going to recuse himself in the midst of all this back and forth. What does the White House say about that?" she asked.

Spicer answered her question and the briefing presumed.

Earlier on Wednesday, Spicer responded to criticism he received after Tuesday's press briefing, saying it is "demeaning" to imply that Rose cannot handle heated exchanges with him.