The strain of telling lies to protect her boss Joe Biden seems to be getting to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre who clashed with reporters on Monday.
In a chaotic scene during the daily press briefing that comes as the Biden campaign is engulfed by a mushrooming crisis with many in his own party turning on him since the CNN debate catastrophe, the high visibility diversity hire struggled to maintain control of the room.
Jean-Pierre was put on the spot over a bombshell report that a neurologist who specializes in Parkinson’s Disease had visited the White House eight times and her ducking and not giving a direct answer was too much for Ed O’Keefe of CBS News who erupted, setting off a contentious exchange.
(Video Credit: The White House)
“It’s a very basic, direct question,” shouted O’Keefe. “That’s what you should be able to answer by this point.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” Biden’s top spox shot back. “Ed, please. A little respect here, please.”
“So every year around the president’s physical examination, he sees a neurologist. That’s three times, right? So I am telling you that he has seen a neurologist three times while he has been in this presidency, that’s what I’m saying,” Jean-Pierre said. “I’m telling you that he has seen him three times. That is what I’m sharing with you, right? So every time he has a physical, he has had to see a neurologist, so that is answering that question.”
“No, it’s not,” O’Keefe responded. “Has Dr. Kevin Cannard come to the White House specifically about the president’s condition?”
“Ed, I also said to you for security reasons, we cannot share names. We cannot share names,” she falsely claimed, adding “We cannot share names of specialists broadly from our dermatologist to neurologist. We cannot share names. There are security reasons-”
“They’re on the visitors log. It’s public,” O’Keefe said, catching Jean-Pierre in a lie. “I looked at it before I got here. It’s right there for anyone to see.”
“Ed, I hear you,” Jean-Pierre shot back. “I cannot, from here, confirm any of that because we have to keep their privacy. I think they would appreciate that, too.”
NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell had O’Keefe’s back, informing KJP that the doctor’s visitor logs are public, drawing a testy response from the historic first black lesbian immigrant to hold the job.
“There’s no reason to go back and forth with me in this aggressive way,” she snippily said.
“Well, we are miffed around here about what has been shared with the press corps about him,” O’Keefe replied, clearly exasperated with the exchange.
X users served up their takes on the testy spinmeister’s meltdown.
Karine Jean-Pierre has the makings of a full riot in the press room as she tries to explain misleading past statements…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 8, 2024
KJP has lost operational control of the briefing room because of her lack of honesty with the White House press corps.
She is arguing with reporters about their questions.
Not easy to get on the wrong side of this incredibly professional press corps but KJP has done so today.
— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) July 8, 2024
Lecturing the free press on having the audacity to ask tough questions and expect straight answers.
I respect you – false. I hope you respect me – nope. You don’t even come close to being open and transparent.
We expect spin, but you can’t blatantly lie.
— Patrick Henry (@patrickhenryone) July 8, 2024
Holy smokes this is bad. And KJP has no idea how to handle it. This is SO bad.
— Shawn Farash (@Shawn_Farash) July 8, 2024
Tell me the President of the United States has Parkinsons without telling me he has Parkinsons. ♂️
— Craig Chamberlin (@CraigChamberlin) July 8, 2024
Most Transparent administration in history! ♂️
— James Pleickhardt (@JamesPleickhar2) July 8, 2024
On the verge of tears and flustered. She was unprepared for this kind of pushback. She’d better put on her big girl panties from this point forward because the questions are just going to get more intense. It’s about time.
— Janine Clark (@DixieChick0211) July 8, 2024
She’s by far worst press secretary in history. An absolute disaster.
— David (@Mr_NiceGuy_007) July 8, 2024
Jean-Pierre later scolded reporters after her exchange with O’Keefe
(Video Credit: Fox News)
“We understand that freedom of the press, we respect the freedom of the press. You heard me talk about this last week. We… I appreciate the back and forth that we all have. It is, I try to respect you and I hope you try to respect me,” she said.
“And we literally do everything that we can,” Jean-Pierre said. “My team does everything that we can to make sure we get the answers to you. That’s what we do. And sometimes we disagree. Sometimes we are not in agreement. But you know what? That’s democracy. That is what is important to have that healthy back and forth. And so to say that I’m holding information or allude to anything else is really, really unfair,” Jean-Pierre added, playing the victim.
With the White House now at war with the media, donors, and congressional Democrats, there could be many press room kerfuffles in the coming weeks.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.