The White House was pressed on Tuesday about who the Pentagon would contact if a nuclear missile was launched towards the United States after 8 p.m., when President Biden said he would end his duties for the day.
According to a New York Times report, Biden told Democratic governors at a closed-door meeting at the White House last week that he would stop scheduling events after 8 p.m. to get more sleep.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Fox News’ Peter Doocy questioned White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about the president’s mental state and when he is most alert just before 8 p.m.
“He also says he’s most alert just before 8 p.m. So let’s say at some point the Pentagon detects a nuclear weapon is coming. It’s 11 p.m. Who do you call? The First Lady?” Doocy asked.
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Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre who the Pentagon would notify if a nuclear bomb was launched toward the United States after 8 p.m., the time President Biden reportedly said he needed to stop working. (Fox News)
Jean-Pierre told Doocy that the president has a team that will inform him when there is news that is “relevant and important” to the American people.
She also said that President Biden has appointed someone to get news from the National Security Council in case such a scenario were to occur.
Jean-Pierre did not say who that person was.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that when he was speaker, there were many times when he attended meetings in the Oval Office and the first lady was there too.
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President Biden smiles alongside Vice President Kamala Harris. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Doocy asked Jean-Pierre whether Jill Biden was making decisions or advising the president while attending the meetings.
“No, the president is the president of the United States. He makes the decisions,” Jean-Pierre said.
The question came after Doocy asked Jean-Pierre whether the president intended to serve a full second term if elected. “Yes,” Jean-Pierre replied.
The correspondent later quoted Jean-Pierre as saying that the president was in good health but that “it’s a matter of the mind, and he’s as clear-headed as ever.”
An AP headline also called Biden “sharp and focused” but “disorganized and forgetful,” drawing ridicule.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told Fox News’ Peter Doocy that the president would make the decision if nuclear weapons were launched towards the US after 8pm, despite Biden having reportedly said he wanted the event to end at 8pm to get more sleep. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Office, via Associated Press)
The press secretary quickly stepped in to set the record straight, telling Doocy that Biden was “joking.”
“What’s the joke?” Doocy asked, to which Jean-Pierre told him Biden was just making a “light joke.”
“He has a brain problem?” Doocy asked.
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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC on January 3, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“He was improvising jokes,” Jean-Pierre said. “The president is a big joker. He’s like the guy who says, ‘I know I look 40,’ so he likes to joke.”
Doocy questioned how that was a joke and was told people laugh when Biden says it.
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Biden’s poor performance against former President Trump in the presidential debate in late June further intensified concerns that had been building for months about his age and fitness for the presidency.
Biden is facing pressure to withdraw from the 2024 election.
