White House Correspondent says she had to pray ‘long and hard’
at prospects of Trump becoming President
Veteran journalist and White House correspondent April Ryan knew Donald Trump was going to win the presidential election.
“That night (Nov. 8), history was made, whether or you like it or not, the experiment began,” Ryan said. “Someone who has no idea of governance who wanted to take a business approach to social issues became President of the United States.”
Ryan was the featured guest speaker at a May 24 event held at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall in Oakland. Hundreds filled the auditorium to hear Ryan’s take on politics, mixing life as a mother with being a journalist, and more politics. The event was presented by Publicsource.
“November 8, I knew that morning that Hillary Clinton wasn’t going to win. As a journalist I feel things,” she told the crowd. “In October, there was a Congressional Black Caucus Phoenix Awards dinner, President Barack Obama gave his last speech, the crowd was all happy and elated and sad at the same time because he was leaving. He was a charismatic man, good speaker, and they felt they connected with him. But when Hilary Clinton reached the stage, I didn’t feel it. I said, ‘Something’s wrong.’”
Ryan said after the dinner, several members of the Caucus approached her, “And these are people who have been in politics for so long, and they know the game…I could not believe how distraught they were because they didn’t feel it as well. That was her (Clinton’s) base, and when her base did not feel it, how was the nation going to feel it?”
Ryan has been covering the White House for American Urban Radio Networks since 1997. She has been the lone African American female journalist covering the White House on a regular basis for years. She added duties as a political analyst for CNN earlier this year. Ryan’s career included stints as a music radio on-air talent before turning to news reporting.
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