White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged Friday that President Joe Biden has been hampered in speeches and debates, abandoning claims that the accusations are based on edited videos — “cheap fakes.”
Jean-Pierre appeared confused and scared, slurring his words at times as he briefed reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to New York after the disastrous first presidential debate on Thursday night.
Biden acknowledged his problem during a speech at a rally in North Carolina on Friday, saying he could carry out the duties of president even though he could not walk or talk as well as before, his first time publicly admitting to being ill.
Friends, I may no longer be able to walk as easily or speak as fluently as before.
I may not be able to argue as well as I used to.
But what I do know is how to tell the truth.pic.twitter.com/ep5D0EhT5P
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 28, 2024
Last week, Jean-Pierre called a video showing Biden struggling to talk and walk a “cheap fake.” Transcript A White House press conference stated:
Second, there appears to be a proliferation of videos that are edited to make the president seem especially vulnerable or mentally disturbed. Is the White House particularly concerned that we’re seeing this pattern more and more frequently?
Jean-Pierre: Well, we, and I think you call this a “cheap fake” video. And that’s exactly what it is. This is a cheap fake video. It was made with bad intentions. And some of your news organizations have been very clear about highlighting that these right-wing, right-wing critics of the president have credibility issues because fact checkers have repeatedly found them to be peddling misinformation and disinformation.
And we are seeing this, and this is coming from your areas, and they are calling it cheap fakery and misinformation.
But now the White House is acknowledging reality, or coming close to it.
“He understands that on the debate stage he’s not as smooth as he used to be, he can’t speak as smoothly as he used to, so you’ve heard him speak out and acknowledge where he stands today,” Jean-Pierre said.
“But the last thing he said, which I think is really important and I’ve said it over and over to you all, is that he’s going to fight for democracy, he’s going to fight for freedom, and he knows exactly how to do that.”
Democrats have discussed dropping Biden from the race, but that would require his consent, and the party changed its primary rules earlier this year, including making South Carolina a priority, to eliminate potential challengers.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He recently published an e-book,Trumpian virtues: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency” is available on Audible. He is also the author of an e-book. Not Free or Fair: The 2020 US Presidential ElectionHe is the recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship in 2018. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
