Despite being pressed multiple times during her press conference on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was unable to truly explain why President Joe Biden performed so poorly in last Thursday’s debate.
Jean-Pierre repeatedly argued that Biden’s poor performance was due to a combination of a cold, jet lag from recent international travel, and simply working hard to serve the American people. After Fox News’ Jackie Heinrich pointed out that Biden had been at Camp David for days before the debate, making the “fatigue” and “cold” excuses moot, Jean-Pierre got defensive.
“Have you ever had a cold?” Jean-Pierre asked.
“Of course,” Heinrich replied.
“Come on, Jackie. Hold on a second. He has a cold. He’s jet-lagged. And he’s working 24/7 for the American people. A lot of things happen. You all pointed out the cold in the debate. We didn’t point that out. You all pointed that out when you heard him. He was rasping because he knew he had to follow through,” Jean-Pierre said.
“It is inappropriate to interrupt a colleague’s question by shouting explanations.”
“He knew he had to follow through forcefully. That’s the job of a president: if you care about this country, if you don’t care about yourself, if you care about the American people, if you care about serving this country, if you care about how you continue to do your job every day from now on, then you follow through forcefully,” she continued.
Heinrich also Asked Asked if Biden takes a nap every afternoon, Jean-Pierre didn’t deny the reports, saying, “Let me be clear: This president wakes up every morning and puts the American people first. That’s what he does. He does it every day. That’s his focus.”
Things got even more interesting in the briefing room when it was NBC News senior White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell’s turn to ask a question.
“You’re saying he’s definitely going to run. … And we ask that he communicate that directly to the president,” O’Donnell told Jean-Pierre.
“If he’s awake,” Newsmax White House correspondent James Rosen interjected.
“That’s inappropriate,” O’Donnell retorted.
“As I heard from my colleagues, the WHCA president [White House Correspondents’ Association]”That’s inappropriate. Thank you, Kelly,” Jean-Pierre told Rosen.
“It is inappropriate to interrupt a colleague’s question by shouting commentary. The briefing room is a forum for asking and answering questions in an appropriate professional manner,” Heinrich said. Posts About X.
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