Sean Spicer told her to “stop shaking your head.” Sarah Huckabee Sanders sarcastically prefaced a reply to her with “since you said my name so politely.”

And when April Ryan asked President Donald Trump if he planned to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus, he shot back “Do you want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours?”

The veteran journalist’s exchanges with Administration officials – even when the officials are being evasive – always seem to make news and prompt debate about race, gender and more.

She’ll likely delve into all those topics at an appearance tonight in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus.

The White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks since 1997, Ryan will be speaking on “Race, Politics and the Changing Face of Journalism.”

The moderated conversation is part of the the “JHU Forums on Race in America” series. The talk begins at 7 p.m. in Mudd Hall, Room 26. It will be preceded by a 6 p.m. reception.

“Thought they could pick on me”

It’s been quite a year for Ryan.

In April, the Baltimore native and Morgan State University graduate was signed on as a political analyst with CNN.

In May she was named 2017’s “Journalist of the Year” by the National Association of Black Journalists.

In a conversation on Angela Rye’s podcast, Ryan talked about why her questions at White House news conferences so often seem to result in fireworks.

“They thought they could pick me because I’m ‘a little black woman from a little specialty media, a little black network,’” Ryan said. “But they didn’t realize that black woman is strong, she is almost half a century old, and she’s been here, done that, got a T-shirt, folded it and washed it. And folks got my back.”

The event is open to the public, tickets are not required and seating is first come, first served. Ryan’s talk also will be broadcast live here.