On Monday, the day-after-Easter White House press briefing began on a hacktastic note as the Associated Press reporter on duty asked about what could generously be described as hubbub surrounding Easter Sunday falling on March 31 and President Biden issuing a presidential proclamation for Sunday as Transgender Day of Visibility.
AP reporter Will Weissert could have asked about this in any number of productive ways, such as why was this tweeted from the White House’s main account, but not their Spanish-language profile, or why did Biden use only half of Genesis 1:27 to endorse transgenderism when the second, omitting portion would show God vehemently opposes it.
Instead, Weissert did this: “So, the criticism over the Transgender Day of Visibility, the White House said that the President wouldn’t abuse his faith for political purposes. Does the President think that’s what Republicans are doing on this?”
Despite having notes, Jean-Pierre still stumbled (see the video above) in expressing surprise at “the misinformation...out there”, explaining while Easter changes every year, Transgender Day of Visibility is always March 31.
Arguing the backlash was “misinformation done on purpose”, the Biden flack seemed to imply Biden — who celebrates transgenderism and believes they’re some of the bravest people he knows — was a real Christian while those who feel differently aren’t and thus possess “cruel, hateful, and dishonest rhetoric”:
And, as a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American. Now, sadly — and it’s not surprising — right — it is actually unsurprising that politicians are seeking to divide and weaken our country with cruel, hateful, and dishonest rhetoric. It is dishonest what we have heard the past 24 hours. It is untrue.
Jean-Pierre then cited a 2021 Fox network tweet endorsing that year’s Transgender Day of Visibility and ironically proclaimed “President Biden will never abuse his faith or — for political purposes or for profit”.
Like a loyal foot soldier, Weissert didn’t ask any follow-ups, but offered Jean-Pierre a “thank you.”
Fox’s Peter Doocy, in contrast, brought the heat and asked actual questions.
While he didn’t ask about the Transgender Day of Visibility, Doocy started with the disturbing development in the disturbing March 21 incident at the U.S.-Mexico (captured by our friend Jennie Taer of the New York Post): “Most of the border crossers accused of beating up Texas National Guardsmen in a riot last month were released on their own recognizance Sunday. How does that make people in this country any safer?”
Jean-Pierre told Doocy to speak with Departments of Homeland Security and Justice before retreating to her talking points praising the Border Patrol for having “act[ed] quickly” and attacking Republicans for “put[ting] politics ahead of the American people” by refusing to address the “challenge at the border” with the proposed Senate deal.
Like a good reporter responding to word salad, Doocy followed up: “So, does President Biden wish that Republicans in Congress would help him make a law that made it easier to deport people?”
Jean-Pierre more or less said he wouldn’t want that because, instead, she said “[w]hat the President wants to see is....congressional Republicans to pass, to move forward with a bipartisan border security agreement”.
Doocy pivoted to wondering what the administration made of the rise in squatting with some localities even having laws allowing the homeless (or anyone) to seize homes that aren’t theirs (click “expand”):
DOOCY: Totally different topic. How worried do Americans need to be about squatters?
JEAN-PIERRE: About squatters?
DOOCY: Well, here’s a lot of stories out there. Homeowners are showing up at places that they own where the locks have been changed. Some squatter has moved in, and the homeowner has no rights. Does President Biden think that is right?
JEAN-PIERRE: So, if — if my understanding is that this is, obviously, a local issue, we are certainly tracking that issue. The rights of property owners and renters must be protected and we believe that, you know, ultimately, what needs to happen is the local government needs to make sure that they address this and they take action. And so, everyone in their community, in this country wants the same thing, right? They all want the same thing. They want their families to be safe, and that’s what we want as well. We want to make sure that Americans and their families feel safe.
DOOCY: In Florida, there’s a new law where victims of squatting can call the cops and have the squatters removed. Would President Biden support something like that?
JEAN-PIERRE: I’m not going to get into — into — into hypotheticals from here. What I can say is that, ultimately, this is a local issue. And it is critical that — that local governments take action to address it. Again, everybody wants the same thing. They want to feel safe in their communities. That’s what they want. We certainly are tracking these stories.
And, as is usually the case, pro-Hamas reporter Nadia Bilbassy of Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya was up to her usual theatrics:
As always, Arab reporter Nadia Bilbassy of Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya used the WH briefing to peddle the Hamas propaganda of the day, claiming the IDF went into Al Shifa hospital to slaughter innocent doctors and babies.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 1, 2024
KJP plays right along.
If this were a Republican… pic.twitter.com/qs2k5TBI8O
if this were a Republican presidency, you’d best believe Bilbassy would be absolutely torched with missives such as that.
To see the relevant transcript from the April 1 briefing, click here.
