US Politics
Journalist at center of ‘your mom’ jibe reveals brutal Steven Cheung follow-up – as HuffPo rakes in cash after fallout
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A journalist made headlines earlier this month after White House officials responded “your mom” to one of his questions — now, he’s revealed an even more brutal message from White House Communications Director Steven Cheung.
S.V. Dáte, HuffPost’s senior White House correspondent, asked the White House earlier this month who suggested Budapest, Hungary, as the location for an upcoming meeting (which has since been shelved) between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded: “Your mom did.” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung then followed up: “Your mom.” Leavitt also accused Dáte of being a “far left hack who nobody takes seriously, including your colleagues in the media, they just don’t tell you that to your face.”
The story went viral, prompting The New York Times to interview Dáte this week. Dáte told the NYT he was writing a story about White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller this fall when he received another text from Cheung.
This time, it was an insulting and expletive-laden message, the NYT reports. When Dáte responded and asked if he’d ever insulted Cheung, the White House communications director accused him of being a “moron,” according to the NYT.
After the NYT published its story, Dáte shared what he said is a screenshot of his exchange with Cheung on X. Cheung appears to tell Dáte to “stop harassing him” and to “reach out to the press team,” before calling him “a little f****** b****,” according to the screenshot.
When asked if Cheung’s responses were considered appropriate, a White House official told The Independent, “YES.”
“WE CALL IT LIKE WE SEE IT,” the White House official wrote. “IT’S NOT OUR ISSUE THAT MR. DATE CONTINUES TO BECLOWN HIMSELF.”
Whitney Snyder, HuffPost’s editor in chief, told the Times the White House’s responses are “ridiculous,” but the outlet isn’t bothered.
“Maybe he’s gotten under their skin,” Snyder said.
The outlet has also used the “your mom” spectacle to advertise its membership program, which allows readers to make contributions. When Leavitt shared the full “Your mom” exchange last week, the site received 66 percent more revenue from the program than it does on an average day, a HuffPost spokesperson told the NYT.
Dáte told the NYT he’s never seen anything like this before.
“Things got testy at times with Jeb Bush’s staff,” he said. “But never like this.”