While not the barnburner for the ages that we saw on Monday, Tuesday’s White House press briefing was more staid as if someone (or some people) had a chat or talkin’ to, but they weren’t without hardballs for the ever-inept Karine Jean-Pierre on the Biden regime’s ever-shifting excuses and narratives on the President’s cognitive impairment.
Fox’s Peter Doocy most notably was called on as Jean-Pierre was so tense with other reporters on Monday she avoided her chief sparring partner. Doocy started off with his trademark opening baseline that one might think is an easier question: “Does President Biden commit to serving a full second term if reelected?”
After Jean-Pierre said “yes”, Doocy wanted to know what was up with Biden telling Democratic governors last week that while his health is fine, “it’s just his brain” that’s not working as well anymore and it best functions before 8:00 p.m.
Jean-Pierre tried to pass it off as a joke and no big deal, but Doocy used this to wonder who at the White House would decide to react if “the Pentagon at some point picked up an incoming nuke” at 11 p.m.
Doocy also tried to drill down on the curious journey of Hunter Biden into White House meetings as well as whether the White House isn’t testing Biden for dementia or Parkinson’s Disease because they’d recognize any diagnosis as an immediate death knell to the presidency:
Rewinding to the beginning, the AP’s Seung Min Kim led off with some touch questions of her own that, since the briefing, proved to be even more pertinent and exposed another White House lie as Jean-Pierre insisted neurologist Dr. Kevin Cannard’s White House visits weren’t additional stops concerning Biden’s health (when, in fact, one in January was) (click “expand”):
KIM: [The letter from Dr. O’Connor] didn’t seem to explicitly describe in nature Dr. Cannard’s meeting with Dr. O’Connor. Can you say whether that one meeting was related to care for the President himself?
JEAN-PIERRE: I can say that it was not.
KIM: Okay. That’s great. And can I just ask why that information that was released last night —
JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
KIM: — just wasn’t said at the briefing yesterday.
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, no, actually a lot of what is in the letter was said at the briefing, to be very, very clear. I said many of the things that were laid out in the letter — actually was repeated right here behind this lectern — at this podium yesterday. It was —
KIM: The letter didn’t say that.
JEAN-PIERRE: — wait — hold on — I said many of the things — many clarification. And we got cleric — cleric — clarification obviously from Dr. O’Connor but it was in line with what I said when I said only three visits — right — I said only three visits that this particular doctor had. I said a neurologist. What I was not able to confirm is the name and the reason why and the reason is because we do not share private information. That is something we respect and we wanted to make sure we protected our consultants here that work with the White House medical unit — their security as well. And so, that is the one thing I was not able to confirm. Obviously, Dr. O’Connor’s letter confirms that but we had to get permission from Dr. Cannard and also the President in order to put that information and it is not normal and that also states that in Dr. O’Connor — but many of the things that I said right here at this podium is in the letter.
Kim also called out Jean-Pierre for having yet another instance “where the briefing had prompted a need for later clarification on questions about the President’s health.” Jean-Pierre interjected to claim she’s said “a lot of things” that were in the letter and those in the press “incorrectly assumed and insinuated that the president had seen Dr. Cannard more than three times.”
Biden regime potted plant Mary Bruce of ABC stated her concern for her friend in the Oval Office: “[H]ow worried is the President that despite his best efforts, he’s not going to be able to close the book on these concerns?”
Having taken a far tougher line in briefings since the debate, CNN’s M.J. Lee repeatedly grilled Jean-Pierre on whether she’d “reconsider any specific statements that you might have made” as of late (i.e. whether you want to apologize for lying):
CNN’s @MJ_Lee: “The White House has obviously fielded a lot questions in recent days about the President's health, whether the White house has forthcoming or not about that issue. And I just wondered, have the last 12 days made you reconsider any specific statements that you… pic.twitter.com/zQ121IXT1A
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 9, 2024
Lee specifically brought up how Jean-Pierre handled two signs of Biden’s mental decline with one being him calling out for a Republican congresswoman even though she had recently died and reports he skipped a dinner with world leaders because he needed to go to bed:
NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez came after Doocy and one of his questions was one that’s been batted around in the weeks since the debate: If Biden had a cold, why in the world was he shaking hands, taking pictures, and visiting a Waffle House afterwards?
NBC’s @GabeGutierrez: “The White House and also the campaign has said that he had a cold that night. He then went to a watch party afterwards, which you have brought up. I was at that watch party. If he did have a cold, why then push him to another event where he spent some 45… pic.twitter.com/xwRG1N1zb9
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 9, 2024
CBS’s Ed O’Keefe was back at it following his explosive throwdown with Jean-Pierre a day earlier and, after someone clearly got to him, toned it down. That said, however, he had this important question concerning one of Biden’s many troubling answers in his ABC interview (click “expand”):
O’KEEFE: One thing I don’t think we have gotten public clarification about yet.
JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah?
O’KEEFE: In the interview Friday night, he was asked, did you watch the debate and he said, ‘I don’t think I did, no.’ Did he watch the full debate —
JEAN-PIERRE: You know —
O’KEEFE: — or what of it has he watched?
JEAN-PIERRE: — that’s a good question. I should — I didn’t — never followed up with him and I meant to. I have not asked him that question. I was there in the room when he was being asked the question. I just never followed up. You know, that is something that, you know, we could follow up with him on. I have not.
O’KEEFE: Okay.
JEAN-PIERRE: I’m sure he’s seen clips. I’m sure he’s seen clips. I just — I haven’t — I haven’t had — asked him that full question.
O’KEEFE: Hard — hard to avoid them. So, I could — yeah. One other thing that’s come up just —
JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, it’s getting round — round the clock coverage — right — from all of you.
In one comical moment, Jean-Pierre had this to say about Biden and access to the media:
KJP to ABC's @KarenTravers earlier:
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 9, 2024
“I know we say this and I know sometimes you guys don't believe us, but [President Biden] does want to engage with you all. He does want to talk more to the press, and so, now we're — we're certainly going to continue to create opportunities… pic.twitter.com/IrfRQLE96d
The briefing ended with this eye-rolling bit from Jean-Pierre about Biden being a working class underdog in response to a question from AFP’s Aurelia End, who observed Biden’s been more combative and disgusted with critics:
.@AureliaEndAFP : “So, we — we've seen the President like being on the ground more, but we've also heard a slightly new tone from him. He said he was frustrated with the elites of his party. He dismissed [inaudible]. He criticized media coverage, saying that journalists get… pic.twitter.com/JEknreWo8g
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 9, 2024
To see the relevant transcript from the July 9 briefing (including even more quesitons), click here.
