During an audio-only gaggle on Tuesday with the White House pool (a small subset of the wider press corps) aboard Air Force One to California, the always-inept Karine Jean-Pierre ripped into The New York Times for its contributions to the ever-growing plethora of stories about President Biden’s age, citing a Substack piece from far-left loon and former Times and Washington Post journalist Margaret Sullivan.
The question on the topic came from the Daily Mail’s Rob Crilly: “[T]he publisher of The New York Times has talked about getting flak from the White House for its coverage of the President’s age. Can you talk to us a little bit about what you think is, sort of, fair game when covering the nation’s oldest president and what might be off limits?”
Jean-Pierre came ready, saying she had “a couple of things there that I would say on that”, first acknowledging “you all ask me pretty regularly about the President’s age and we lay out..our perspective” that everything’s just peachy.
Arguing Biden has “deliver[ed] on historic — historic piece of legislation that’s going to change the lives of Americans for generations to come” and is thus in complete grasp of his faculties, Jean-Pierre turned to, well, a mangled mess:
That — so wh- — now, to your question, more specifically, about — about The New York Times coverage, is that — that display — what we believe a journalistic objectivity about coverage of the President’s age speaks to why we agree with former New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan, and she says, “Maybe The Times and other major media outlets ought to look in the mirror...Self-scrutiny and — and course correction are not among their core strengths.” And I’ll leave it there.
The answer above is reminiscent of this quote from the character Michael Scott on NBC’s The Office: “Sometimes I’ll start a sentence, and I don’t even know where it’s going. I just hope I find it along the way.”
But to sift through Jean-Pierre’s mess, her delusion and citation of Sullivan boils down to a missive from the regime: cut it out and instead do more Trump bashing (i.e. how dare they go off the reservation).
Whenever the liberal ruling class isn’t happy with their chief mouthpiece in The Times, it’s a tell-tale sign the topic is such a sore subject it could cost them the election.
The gaggle ended with an exchange between a reporter and Jean-Pierre about whether the President (A) plans to see Hunter Biden during his California trip and (B) if he had spoke to or was aware of what brother Jim Biden would tell a House committee behind closed doors.
On both, Jean-Pierre insisted she “never” has and wouldn’t start describing “the President’s private conversation with his family.”
Those answers are, not surprisingly, false. Back on December 13, Jean-Pierre revealed Joe was actually aware of what Hunter was up to and would say when the First Son flaunted a congressional subpoena by instead addressing reporters outside the Capitol.
There was also this important exchange from The Washington Times’s Jeff Mordock on the explosion of tech layoffs (click “expand”):
MORDOCK: [L]ast month was the worst month we’ve had in layoffs in the tech sector. Any chance that the President will address that fear it’s going to spread into the larger economy?
JEAN-PIERRE: It’s the largest month of what?
MORDOCK: The largest — largest lump monthly — largest — excuse me, largest layoffs in a single month in the tech sector since, I think, May of — May of 2023.
JEAN-PIERRE: So — so, we closely monitor, obviously, all reports of Americans losing their jobs. President Biden knows what losing a job can mean for a family and entire community. You’ve heard him talk about his own personal experience growing up, but broadly speaking, thanks to the strong economy under President Biden, layoffs are near record lows. In fact, they’re lower than the average during the prior administration, even before COVID. As you know, unemployment is at under four percent and — and, also, three million jobs were created just last year, more than any year under the previous administration. And companies continue to grow. We’ve seen small business application boom at 16 million applications in the last three years and so, that tells you a lot about the economy, but obviously, anytime we hear about Americans losing jobs, that’s something that we monitor.
Earlier in the gaggle, Reuters’s Trevor Hunnicutt and the AP’s Aamer Madhani repeatedly tried to have Jean-Pierre state whether the administration agrees with socialist Brazilian President Lula de Silva that the plight of Palestinians inside Gaza amid Hamas’s war with Israel is akin to what Jews went through during the Holocaust.
Only near the end of the two-minute-and-21-second exchange did she admit that, yes, that comparison’s wrong.
To see the relevant transcript from the February 20 Air Force One gaggle, click “expand.”
White House press gaggle on Air Force One
February 20, 2024
Time N/ATREVOR HUNNICUTT: Do you — do you agree with — with Prime Minister Netanyahu that it was inappropriate for Lula of Brazil to compare the plight of the Palestinians with the plight of the Jews in the Holocaust?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I’m not — I’m going to let Lula speak for himself. We’ve been very clear where we stand. We stand, obviously, with Israel being able to defend itself against Hamas and this terrorist organization. That’s why we continue to push for — obviously, one of the reasons we continue to push for the national security supplemental. What we saw on October 7 was 1,200 — 1,200 people — more than 1,200 people who were killed and more than — obviously, more than 150 people who were — who were taken hostage and it was a — it was a devastating, tragic day and we want to continue to make sure that Israel is able to defend itself. Obviously, we want to also make sure that the all-important humanitarian aid get to — get to Palestinian civilians, who are — who are victims of — who are victims themselves of what Hamas is doing. Let’s not forgot — forget: Hamas is embedding themselves into hospital, into civilian infrastructure, and they’re causing harm to their own people and so, we want to make sure we get that — that temporary ceasefire and get that done so we can get that aid in and also make sure that we get those hostages home to their families.
AAMER MADHANI: And if I could just follow on just what Trevor asked. Is it — just to put a fine point on it, is it appropriate, as terrible as the suffering is in Gaza, to equate it with the — with the Holocaust?
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I — I — I’m not going to — this is a very sensitive situation right now — obviously, a very sensitive issue. We understand that as it relates to what folks are seeing in Gaza, it’s incredibly personal and what I can say is that we support — obviously, our policy in Israel is — is steadfast and — and I’m just going to be super mindful. Obviously, those are two different scenarios — right — two different situation: what we saw in the Holocaust and it is — it is two different things that should not be compared, but obviously, what we’re seeing in — what we’re seeing — the devastation that we’re seeing in — in — with the Palestinian civilians, what Hamas is causing is devastating. It is devastating, but they’re two different times in history, and we have to be very clear about that.
(....)
Time N/A
ROB CRILLY: Karine, the — the publisher of The New York Times has talked about getting flak from the White House for its coverage of the President’s age. Can you talk to us a little bit about what you think is, sort of, fair game when covering the nation’s oldest president and what might be off limits?
JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, I mean, a couple of things there that I would say on that — on that particular — particular item. Look, you know — and, you know, you — you all ask me pretty regularly about the President’s age and we lay out what our perspective is. We lay out what we see — we’ve seen this president do in the last three years, which is deliver on historic — historic piece of legislation that’s going to change the lives of Americans for generations to come. That — so wh- — now, to your question, more specifically, about — about The New York Times coverage, is that — that display — what we believe a journalistic objectivity about coverage of the President’s age speaks to why we agree with former New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan, and she says, “Maybe The Times and other major media outlets ought to look in the mirror...Self-scrutiny and — and course correction are not among their core strengths.” And I’ll leave it there.
(....)
Time N/A
JEFF MORDOCK: [L]ast month was the worst month we’ve had in layoffs in the tech sector. Any chance that the President will address that fear it’s going to spread into the larger economy?
JEAN-PIERRE: It’s the largest month of what?
MORDOCK: The largest — largest lump monthly — largest — excuse me, largest layoffs in a single month in the tech sector since, I think, May of — May of 2023.
JEAN-PIERRE: So — so, we closely monitor, obviously, all reports of Americans losing their jobs. President Biden knows what losing a job can mean for a family and entire community. You’ve heard him talk about his own personal experience growing up, but broadly speaking, thanks to the strong economy under President Biden, layoffs are near record lows. In fact, they’re lower than the average during the prior administration, even before COVID. As you know, unemployment is at under 4 percent and — and, also, three million jobs were created just last year, more than any year under the previous administration. And companies continue to grow. We’ve seen small business application boom at 16 million applications in the last three years and so, that tells you a lot about the economy, but obviously, anytime we hear about Americans losing jobs, that’s something that we monitor. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Does the President plan to meet with his son, Hunter, while he is in California? He was with —
JEAN-PIERRE: I’m not — I’m not going to speak to — to the President’s family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: And then, is he — is he aware — is he aware or in touch with his brother James heading into his interviews with House Republicans —
JEAN-PIERRE: I — I’m not —
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: — tomorrow?
JEAN-PIERRE: — I’m not going to — I’m not going to speak to the President’s private conversation with his family. I never do, and I’m not going to do that now.
