With the final White House press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, we’re looking back at the best hardballs, tussles, and moments over the hundreds of Biden administration press briefings, primarily helmed by Jen Psaki and Karine Jean-Pierre.
The story of the Biden White House press corps is far more complex than Fox News – led by Peter Doocy and Jacqui Heinrich – teaming with the New York Post’s Steven Nelson and Real Clear Politics’s Philip Wegmann to ask challenging questions while the rest were liberal partisans facilitating the daily Biden spin.
Having spent four years watching hundreds of briefings, there were multiple instances in which an establishment, liberal journalist (or more) would put on a brave face and call out the gaslighting on, say, the border, inflation, or even a baby formula recall and student loan debt.
But, just as quickly as they’d emerge from the woodwork, they’d slink back into a world of surface-level questions. Meanwhile, the world watched a President in cognitive decline and gaffes galore or issues such as Biden family corruption or transgenderism festered.
After preening our list of 399 articles under the NewsBusters tag for the White House press briefing, we gleaned 18 such entries, presented in chronological order (and most with their original NewsBusters headline).
We hope this list illustrates how the wider press corps occasionally chose to do their jobs, serving as proof their partisan shilling wasn’t out of ignorance but a conscious choice.
1. March 10, 2021 — ‘It’s Not Funny’; FNC’s Doocy Fights WH Over Biden’s Immigration Crisis
Doocy held the line and actually did his job in the last four years. Along with Biden’s mental decline, many of Doocy’s tussles with Psaki and Jean-Pierre concerned the economy and the border crisis.
On that latter, he diagnosed the issue in front of Psaki and another Biden official, not even two months in: “[D]o you think it's coincidence that as soon as Trump and his immigration policy were on the way out and Biden and his stated policy were on the way in, this historic surge at the border started?”
He later took this issue to Psaki: “You've been telling migrants from right there for a month now, all the way back to February 10 that now is not the time to come, but they are coming in bigger numbers every day. So do you have a messaging problem?”
Psaki replied the administration restored “morality” to the border, so Doocy pivoted to the double standard at the time between packed shelters of illegals and schools remaining at reduced capacity.
She laughed out loud at Doocy “mixing different circumstances,” which he clapped back that “it’s not funny.”
2. July 2, 2021 — Holiday Fireworks: Doocy, Psaki Square Off Over Defund the Police, Hot Dog Tweet
Perhaps the single dumbest back-and-forth in 2021 concerned a tone-deaf White House tweet about the cost of a Fourth of July cookout dropping a mere 16 cents.
An incredulous Doocy called it out: “[D]oes the White House think that 16 cents off of barbecue has more of an impact on people's lives than gas being a dollar more this time — this Fourth of July than last year?”
Psaki again chucked, arguing “I would say if you don't like hot dogs, you may not care of the reduction of costs. You don’t have to like hot dogs.”
Earlier, Doocy and Psaki went around on another insane, fake narrative in 2021 that Republicans, not Democrats, were the defund the police party.
3. August 31, 2021 — Psaki Runs into Buzzsaw of WH Reporters After Biden Cuts and Runs After Speech
One of the few times the White House press corps collectively showed a backbone was during the chaotic, deadly U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Her job was made worse by the fact that, as he’s often done, Biden ignored questions.
Along with Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich grilling Psaki over Biden’s infamous watch-checking incidents, reporters from ABC, Bloomberg, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, and even NPR and PBS brought heat as well, a reminder many liberal journalists aren’t exactly oblivious or stupid when they’re missing the real story or questions to be asked.
Instead, it’s a question of will or, frankly, courage.
4. December 6, 2021 — New York Post Reporter Draws Psaki’s Ire Over Daring to Ask About Hunter’s Laptop
In a briefing largely focused on Russia’s impending invasion of Ukraine (and Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich asking about dysfunction in Vice President Harris’s office), the New York Post’s Steven Nelson cemented himself as a thorn in the side of the regime with these simple questions about Hunter Biden:
The Biden administration today put out a big report about addressing corruption…Shortly after President Biden’s virtual meeting with the Chinese president, the First Son’s attorney said that he has finally divested from a Chinese investment fund controlled by state-owned entities. I was hoping you could commit to basic transparency about that transaction, including the name of the buyer, the dollar amount, and the timing. And the second question is my colleague Miranda Devine has a new book out called The Laptop From Hell and I was hoping that you could confirm that the laptop is indeed authentic and not Russian disinformation as you seemed to suggest on Twitter last year.
Psaki scoffed at having to respond concerning the laptop because Hunter “is not an employee of the federal government” and Miranda Devine’s book was something she had “neither…the time nor interest in exploring or reading[.]”
5. April 4, 2022 — Kaboom: Doocy Asks Psaki If the WH Supports Kindergartners Learning Sex Ed
In one of her final briefings, the issue of “Lia” Thomas arose and, with the press corps largely okay with biological men playing in women’s sports, Doocy stood up for the majority of Americans uncomfortable with this: “In some places like the Ivy League now, there are biological males competing against women. Does the White House think that is fair?”
Psaki defended transgenderism infecting sports because Biden believes in “protect[ing] the dignity and identity of all Americans” and especially their mental health, so Doocy struck an even deeper chord: “At what age does the White House think that students should be taught about sexual orientation and gender identity?”
Doocy would cut even deeper, wondering if “the White House support[s] that kind of classroom instruction…before kindergarten” “about sexual orientation and gender identity.”
Psaki wouldn’t address the merits and instead clung to the left’s usual talking points about opposing “hateful policies” and a “harsh law” placing “parents and LGBTQ+ kids in a very difficult, heartbreaking circumstance.”
6. June 16, 2022 — Doocy WRECKS Paltry Jean-Pierre Over Gas Prices, WH Lies About Inflation
Doocy cut to the chase about the Biden regime’s spin about the economy: “[W]hy is the President saying that inflation is worse everywhere but here?”
The bumbling, fumbling Jean-Pierre stuck to the excuse that “inflation is a global challenge” and the U.S. fared better than most in the developed world. Doocy provided a fact-check: “U.S. has worse inflation than Germany, France, Japan, Canada, India, Italy, Saudi Arabia. So, why is he saying that?”
7. July 27, 2022 — BULLSEYE: Doocy Calls Out Biden WH Disinformation on Defining a Recession
In a briefing filled with Jean-Pierre offering bloated nonsense about the supposedly peachy economy, Doocy wasn’t having any of it: “If things are going so great, though, then why is it that White House officials are trying to redefine recession?...If we all understand a recession to be two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth in a row and then you have White House officials come up here to say, ‘no, no, that’s not what a recession is. It’s something else.’ How is that not redefining recession?”
Jean-Pierre denied this, so Doocy let Jean-Pierre and viewers sit with this historical tidbit from then-Biden Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Brian Deese:
Brian Deese said in 2008, “of course, economists have a technical definition, which is, of a recession, which is two consecutive quarters of negative growth.” And yesterday he said, two consec — “two negative quarters of GDP growth is not the technical definition of a recession.” What changed?
8. September 6, 2022 — HE WENT THERE: Doocy Torches KJP Over Tweets Saying 2016, 2018 Elections Were Stolen
Nearly two years into the regime, Doocy ripped Jean-Pierre’s election denialism amid a White House crusade to brand Republicans as a domestic terror threat because of what some believed about the 2020 election and January 6, 2021: “[Y]ou tweeted in 2016 Trump stole an election…You tweeted, Trump stole an election. You tweeted Brian Kemp stole an election. If denying election results is extreme now, why wasn’t it then?”
Jean-Pierre insisted this was “ridiculous” because she was merely “talking specifically…what was happening with voting rights” and completely fine to assert since she didn’t storm the U.S. (or Georgia state) Capitol.
9. September 23, 2022 — Doocy EXPLODES After KJP Ducks His Abortion Question: ‘You Did NOT Answer My Question!’
Conservatives are consistently harangued over their pro-life beliefs, but liberals are largely left to their own esoteric devices about supporting “a woman’s right to choose.” A few months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Doocy caused a stir: “[D]oes President Biden favor any limits on abortion?”
Jean-Pierre ironically asserted the Biden team has “been very, very clear” in opposing a 15-week limit on abortions, which she deemed “a national ban” and wouldn’t “get into specifics” any further.
Doocy went scorched Earth: “Why not get into specifics? The Republicans are saying we don't want abortion after 15 weeks. Why can't you say how many weeks the President thinks the limit is?”
Jean-Pierre filibustered and later tried to move on, but not without Doocy trying to keep her attention, shouting “you did not answer my question.”
10. January 12, 2023 — YIKES: Doocy, O'Keefe SLAM KJP Over Biden ‘GarageGate’ Docs
2023 started off on a remarkable note with President Biden under a cloud of suspicion over classified documents found at home in Delaware and in Washington D.C., which would trigger a special counsel investigation and infamous February 2024 report.
CBS’s Ed O’Keefe was apoplectic, noting it took two months for the public to be told of the documents being discovered, leaving him to wonder if that meant “the hope was that nobody would find out” and incredulous called out Jean-Pierre’s holier-than-thou transparency pledge: “You talk about we are being transparent. Who is we? And what is the definition of transparent in this case?”
When she said Team Biden hasn’t been hiding anything, he exploded that the regime hadn’t “laid out everything, Karine, and you know that.” Even NBC’s Kristen Welker wasn’t sold, wondering why Biden has stated “he takes classified documents very seriously” yet they were “being stored in his garage.”
Doocy Time commenced with a simple question of “what is the White House trying to hide” and followed up by blasting Biden’s initial public remarks “that [were] incomplete at best, misleading at worst.”
11. January 17, 2023 — Throwing Joe Overboard? WH Press Corps EVISCERATE KJP in Wild Briefing
On this issue, the press continued to keep a thick spine. This particular day came after word that more documents were found in Delaware despite Jean-Pierre’s previous assurances nothing more would be found.
ABC’s Cecilia Vega ripped what seemed to be a lie, wondering how did she “not know on Friday that those documents had been found when you were at the podium or are you being directed by someone to not be forthcoming.”
NBC’s Peter Alexander also took issue, wondering why Jean-Pierre and co. argued “Republicans are faking outrage on this issue. Why shouldn’t Americans be outraged about classified documents being found in a garage?”
CBS’s Weijia Jiang went around and around with Jean-Pierre, as did her then-CBS colleague Steven Portnoy, who pieced together that “the first call that the President personal attorneys made on November 2 was not to the FBI that they had found what we now know were top secret documents out in the open,” but instead “officials at this White House in the West Wing” when it should have been the Justice Department.
12. September 21, 2023 — BRUTAL: Melugin Excoriates KJP on Border After Silencing Doocy in Wild Briefing
One of many illegal immigrant surges came in the late summer-to-early fall of 2023, leading to Jean-Pierre being on a short fuse than usual. Fox’s Peter Doocy served as the match with this doozy: “So, what do you call it here at the White House when 10,000 people illegally cross the border in a single day?”
She condescendingly started to restate it while making it an insult on Republicans as somehow responsible, so Doocy interjected to put a stop. Instead of engage, Jean-Pierre moved on. Fox Business’s Edward Lawrence stuck up for Doocy a few minutes later in wondering “how many people coming into this country illegally is enough for President Biden.”
Fox’s border ace Bill Melugin was listening from Eagle Pass, Texas amid the mass of humanity and took to America Reports afterward to provide an exhaustive fact-check of Jean-Pierre’s spin.
13. January 22, 2024 — Fox’s Doocy Battles KJP on Abortion, Border, Gets Backup from Daily Caller, EWTN
Doocy again showed his persistence in asking Jean-Pierre about Biden’s cognitive decline: “Karine, why do you think it is that more and more people pooled feel like, over time, President Biden is getting less and less mentally sharp?...ABC has President Biden's rating for health since May down five points and for mental sharpness down four points.”
Tellingly, Jean-Pierre never engaged on the merits, but instead cited legislative accomplishments. Doocy also reupped a question from number nine on our list: “[H]ow many weeks into a pregnancy does he think abortion should still be illegal?”
EWTN’s Toby Capion later gave Doocy a leg up, wondering why Biden doesn’t believe “unborn babies any rights” when he’s long “said he wants to be a President for all Americans.”
14. April 19, 2024 — Doocy SLAMS KJP Over Biden’s Latest Tall Tale: ‘Where Did the Cannibalism Come From?’
In another example of Biden losing his grip on reality and the liberal media finding nothing to write home about, Doocy was alone in asking why Biden claimed his uncle – who died in the Pacific during World War II, had been “eaten by cannibals.” Jean-Pierre said Biden was merely having “an emotional and, um, I think a symbolic moment.” Doocy didn’t buy it, demanding she explain “where did the cannibalism come from.”
“That’s a bad way to go,” he quipped.
15. July 2, 2024 — BLOOD IN THE WATER: WH Press Use Briefing to Show It’s Game Over for Biden
The White House press corps showed they were done with Biden and ready to throw him overboard in this first press briefing since the infamous June 27 debate. We wrote at the time that their sudden ferocity – from the Associated Press to CBS to ABC to even USA Today – illustrated a cynical change from their “cowardice” toward “years of what could be the largest cover-up in U.S. history in Biden’s mental impairment.”
Even the Briefing Room’s Karen – NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell – wondered if “anyone in the White House” had been “hiding information about the President’s health or his ability to do the job day to day.”
Heinrich went below the surface and lambasted the administration for having less than a month earlier “strongly criticized the media for clips showing the President appearing to be confused, freezing at times, and you called it cheap fakes, misinformation, disinformation, in one case, even implied that it was the product of artificial intelligence.”
16. July 8, 2024 — WH Briefing EXPLODES When CBS’s O’Keefe Calls Out KJP for Dodging on Biden’s Health
The entire room – from the left to the right – remained on what, to them, was a new beat in Biden’s mental state. CBS’s Ed O’Keefe had the exchange of the year with a scorching shouting match after Jean-Pierre was dodging questions about Parkinson’s and a doctor’s mysterious White House visits:
🧵I transcribed the full back-and-forth with KJP and CBS’s @EdOKeefe. It was WILD. You're welcome, America....
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 8, 2024
O’Keefe: “But, Karine, you’re not answering the — the very basic, direct question!”
Miller: “[Inaudible]”
O’Keefe: “Has the Parkinson’s [inaudible] —”
KJP: “Wait,… pic.twitter.com/Z3gGVDa5bl
17. July 24, 2024 — KJP Seethes When Peter Doocy Alleges WH ‘Cover Up’ of Declinin’ Biden
This was the first briefing since Biden quit the presidential race, so Doocy had some time to think about this: “It — it would seem that people in this White House knew that President Biden was slipping and it was hidden from the American people, so who ordered White House officials to cover up a declining President?”
Jean-Pierre played Baghdad Bob, denouncing this “narrative that you love.” Doocy didn’t appreciate it, seeing as how Biden had been adamant for weeks about staying. Many others hit a bullseye, including AP’s Zeke Miller: “So, you’re saying that [Biden] believes that he’s capable of serving another four years, but he just doesn’t believe that he can win another four years?”
CNN’s Kayla Tausche was similarly on point: “And on the messaging to us, to the press corps, it's been nine days since there's been a briefing. The President obviously published his letter officially on Sunday withdrawing from the race. Why go on television to make your first comments about that decision rather than make — make those from a briefing?”
18. October 7, 2024 — Doocy SLAMS KJP Over FEMA Funding Post-Helene as Lefty Journos Bash DeSantis
For this final entry, Doocy threw down with Jean-Pierre over FEMA funding ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall, but after Hurricane Helene left a trial of almost biblical destruction, particularly in Florida, Georgia, western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southwest Virginia.
“[O]n this issue of funding, the administration has money to send to Lebanon without Congress coming back, but Congress does have to come back to approve money to send to people in North Carolina. Do I have that right,” Doocy wondered.
When Jean-Pierre dismissed budgeting concerns as “disinformation, misinformation,” and “dangerous,” Doocy had this zinger that triggered a lengthy cross-talk-fest:
But President Biden is fond of saying, “Show me your budget, and I will tell you what you value.” If he has got money for people in Lebanon right now, without Congress having to come back, what does it say about his values that there is not enough money right now for people in North Carolina who need it? That’s not misinformation.
This was in contrast to the likes of ABC’s Karen Travers and Selina Wang and AP’s Aamer Madhani and Gray TV’s Jon Decker, who chose to criticize Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and the manufactured scandal with Vice President Harris (who chose to rhetorically channel Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction).
