FINAL Biden WH Briefing Features Emotional KJP Speech, Non-Answers, and...a Shrug Emoji?

Curtis Houck
January 15th, 2025 8:18 PM

Text to Speech

00:00 00:00
Font Size

Wednesday afternoon brought us the final Biden White House press briefing and, by her own count, the 306th featuring the ever-inept Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. It featured Jean-Pierre emotionally patting herself on the back, plenty of unanswered questions (mostly stemming from the monumental Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal), the final Jacqui Time, and even Jean-Pierre doing her own impression of the shrug emoji.

And, in reporting made public during the briefing, it was revealed Jean-Pierre had one last bitter bullet full of arrogance and jealousy to fire toward White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby as she blocked him from speaking to the press corps.

It began with remarks about the Middle East and then a six-minute-plus speech from Jean-Pierre reflecting on her time in the administration, helping President Biden restore the “norm” of briefings since his administration “understand[s] that a free press is a cornerstone of our nation and that the job you do questioning leaders and holding the powerful accountable is important[.]”

She went onto offer DEI-tinged lines about hopefully having been only the first “barrier-breaking” press secretary, thanking press staff over the last four years by name, and choking up talking about her family and daughter:

Much of the substantive questions concerned the ceasefire and hostage deal, particularly whether the Biden administration should credit the incoming Trump administration with helping to move the seemingly intractable talks to the finish.

A few also threw in questions inviting Jean-Pierre to reflect on her last four years. CBS’s Weijia Jiang wondered whether she had any regrets (which she said she wouldn’t entertain quite yet):

The regime’s apple polisher — ABC’s Mary Bruce — had more of a softball question about incoming Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt:

A few minutes later, Bruce’s ABC colleague Karen Travers wondered if Biden would be following tradition in leaving a letter in the Resolute Desk for his successor. Unsurprisingly, Jean-Pierre claimed she hadn’t thought about that and thus never asked the President.

CNN’s Kayla Tausche had a far tougher retrospective question:

NBC’s Peter Alexander — who’s shown at times a spine in giving it to his fellow liberals — had two remarkable questions about Biden ducking presidential norms by skipping a year-end press conference in December and a farewell presser:

 

 

Alexander’s second question stung: “Is there any concerns about his public performance in a setting like that?”

When Jean-Pierre stammered that Biden “literally did a press conference” on Friday after remarks about the economy and sanctions, Alexander clapped back: “Candidly, that’s different, you know, than an hour-long press conference. That’s why I asked the question.”

Jean-Pierre skated by with bland platitudes about him having taken “questions on an array of issues” recently and that he “understand[s] how important you all are to our democracy and understanding how having that continuation of a back and forth[.]”

Bloomberg’s Jenny Leonard had this remarkable back-and-forth on this taking-the-credit hullabaloo, which resulted in Jean-Pierre dissing State Department spokesman Matt Miller as just some “random person”:

Showing her mettle, Leonard even touched the sensitive rail by wondering where Kirby was. Jean-Pierre’s dislike was evident as she wouldn’t even say his name.

After CBS News Radio’s Linda Kenyon got Jean-Pierre to say she hasn’t talked to Leavitt, the final tussle with Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich commenced, starting with the hostage deal and followed up by wondering what the point of her coming out to speak on the deal was if she couldn’t provide more information.

Seeming to allude to the Kirby icing, she said reporters “were under the impression that there were folks here in the building who had answers,” but alas, it wasn’t happening.

Heinrich also gave it the old college try on the credit talk. At one point, Heinrich said she wondered why Jean-Pierre wouldn’t “just say your view, which seems to be that Trump gets no credit.”

Things got tense as Heinrich tried to work in on final question about the regime’s transparency:

 

 

Thankfully, the question Jean-Pierre moved onto was critical as it concerned the report from Special Counsel David Weiss on his investigation into Hunter Biden:

Globo TV’s Raquel Krähenbühl had the distinction (or infamy) of having the final exchange. She first expressed concern about whether Biden’s “afraid...part of his legacy could be or it’s about to be erased by the incoming President.”

Jean-Pierre only stuck to domestic issues and the bipartisan pieces of legislation (except for the Inflation Reduction Act), which triggered a follow-up about foreign policy.

One final bumbling, fumbling answer later, it was time to say goodbye. Jean-Pierre tried to leave, but Krähenbühl tried again about the Leavitt question. When Jean-Pierre doubled down she hadn’t spoken to her, the AP’s Zeke Miller spoke up, leading to this:

How fitting an end for both Jean-Pierre and the corporate liberals in the seats.

To see the relevant transcript from the January 15 briefing, click here.

Donor Privacy Policy