Thursday’s White House press briefing featured an embarrassing performance by the ever-inept Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as she tried to defend and explain away an infamous photo captured of President Biden holding a card Wednesday afternoon with the name of a reporter he called on (Courtney Subramanian of the Los Angeles Times) and a typed-out question that was close to the one she asked.
Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich brought it up, but treaded carefully: “The LA Times said that their reporter did not submit any questions in advance of yesterday’s press conference, so, to people who saw that pocket card, can you explain how that ended up there and why the President needed something like that?”
Jean-Pierre thanked Heinrich for bringing it up and, sure enough, had comments. She insisted “[i]t is entirely normal for a president to be briefed on reporters who will be asking questions at a press conference and issues that we expect they might ask about” and thus “it is not surprising” to hear the White House anticipated questions about 2024 and semiconductors.
Adding that press briefings also serve as a way of gleaning what reporters are interested in, Jean-Pierre proclaimed: “[W]e do not have specific questions in advance. That's not something that we do. And in fact, I would point out the questions that was asked was different than what it was on the card that you all saw.”
After she insisted such preparation was done in order to shape the news coverage, the Daily Caller’s Diana Glebova wasn’t having it: “How are the reporters decided?”
Jean-Pierre actually replied, explaining the White House “reach[es] out to a number of reporters who — who were going to — who we know are going to be at the press conference and that's what we did yesterday and also...who has not gotten a question in a while.”
As for why Subramanian and ABC’s Mary Bruce were picked, she stated the regime wanted to reward Bruce for her promotion to chief White House correspondent and then Subramanian because “the Los Angeles Times...has not gotten a question in some time and...California has the largest South Kore — Korean American population in any state in the country.”
Gray TV’s Jon Decker was not taking this all-too-mild back-and-forth and asked whether we’re actually supposed to believe her (click “expand”):
HEINRICH: [Inaudible] Karine — I’m sorry.
DECKER: Is it your contention, Karine — is your contention, Karine —
JEAN-PIERRE: I’m not — I’m not taking call —
DECKER: — that the question that —
JEAN-PIERRE: — Jacqui’s not done.
DECKER: — that the question that was on the so-called cheat sheet —
JEAN-PIERRE [TO HEINRICH] Go ahead —
DECKER: — was not similar —
JEAN-PIERRE: — Jacqui. [TO DECKER] Your colleague —
DECKER: — to the question —
JEAN-PIERRE: — your colleague —
DECKER: — that was asked of the President?
JEAN-PIERRE: — your colleague — your colleague is not done. [TO HEINRICH] Go ahead.
DECKER: It’s a very reasonable question.
GLEBOVA: [INAUDBILE]
JEAN-PIERRE: No.
HEINRICH: But to — to —
JEAN-PIERRE [TO DECKER]: I hear you. Can you wait your turn?
DECKER: Absolutely.
JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you, Jon. I appreciate that. I really do. [TO HEINRICH] Go ahead.
Heinrich got back into the questioning with one more on the press conference (before one about the White House’s ongoing claim House Republicans aren’t looking to raise the debt ceiling). Take note of Heinrich’s less-than-biting framing:
And just, to be clear, to people — skeptics who saw the card and saw the question number one and might think that is a signal that it was pre-organized. Did the President have other questions that he was prepared, you know, had similar talking points in case he was asking something on other topics in that same [press conference]?
Jean-Pierre even ducked this question by latching onto the second half of Heinrich’s question, arguing Biden’s prepped on “an array of — of topics that could potentially come up” from reporters that, on Wednesday, included American and South Korean reporters.
Elsewhere, longtime leftist hack April Ryan of theGrio lobbed two horrific softballs at Jean-Pierre lobbying for a transgender Montana Democrat to visit the White House, coming to the defense of said lawmaker for being barred from the floor after she accused Republicans of being pro-trans suicides and told her to provide a message “to...young [trans] people” (click “expand”):
You had the Tennessee three here and we know what happened in Tennessee. Let's go to Montana. The Montana State Legislature — similar — it seems to learn a lot of ways shutting down someone who wants — a state lawmaker who is in protest of something that they feel is wrong. What do you say to that? And what is the president saying? And what is the White House doing in the midst of seeing now these legislatures shut down people who are doing with democracy speaks of — trying to strengthen it.
(....)
And lastly, I want to ask a question because we understand that transgender youth are some of the most vulnerable youth now in this nation. What do you say from that podium as someone in that community and LGBTQ+ community to those young people in Montana and beyond in the midst of this moment?
To see the relevant transcript from the April 27 briefing, click here.
