Wednesday’s White House press briefing featured ever-inept Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre being super-glued to talking points about Republicans supposedly holding the country hostage over the debt ceiling, so it fell to reporters like Fox’s Peter Doocy to focus her elsewhere.
On his turn, he grilled her on China, economy anxiety, and exposing the White House for seemingly having little regard for the victims of the Covenant School shooting and instead all the care in the world for the so-called Tennessee Three.
Doocy’s third question focused on Jean-Pierre’s announcement at the top of the briefing that the three far-left lawmakers would be rewarded for their disruptive antics with a White House visit on Monday. This led Doocy to wonder: “Have any of the victims or the victims’ families been invited to the White House?”
This stopped Jean-Pierre in her tracks: “I don’t have anything to read out to you about any invite.”
When Doocy followed up with “why,” she did as leftists have done in abandoning the victims and the wider Covenant Presbyterian Church community and instead lifted up the dark-blue Democrats demanding mass gun control.
“I just don’t have anything at this time to read out to you — any invite,” she replied, insisting “[w]hat I can say to you right now is that the President is focused on getting things done” and “protecting our communities” and the people interested in that were “these legislators.”
Further implying the families were of no help to the gun control agenda, she said the Tennessee Three care as Biden does about “put[ting] pressure on Congress to get things done, make sure that they’re showing some courage — Republicans in Congress — to make sure that we’re banning assault weapons and so, we cannot have weapons of war in our streets.”
Before that, Doocy’s second question took a ten-thousand-foot view arguing China has felt free to embarrass the U.S. without consequences:
China is setting up police stations in the U.S. There’s more proof now that they created COVID. There’s reason to think that there were more spy balloons than the White House has said. Why is it taking so long for President Biden to call Xi and tell him to cut it out?
Jean-Pierre wasn’t interested. Along with insisting Biden “intends to call President Xi,” she boasted about the necessity of a “strategic competition with China” and, as part of that, there should be “open lines of communication.”
And in his first question, Doocy highlighted how Americans were feeling about the Biden economy: “69 percent of people polled by CNBC say they have a negative view of the economy. President Biden talks about the economy all the time...Why aren’t people buying it?”
Jean-Pierre ducked this not-nice number and instead trumpeted Biden as having “talk[ed] about the economy all the time because he wants the American people to know that he’s doing everything that he can to make sure that...he’s building an economy that doesn’t leave anybody behind.”
A few minutes later, TheGrio’s April Ryan hit the administration from the left over progressive concerns an upcoming Supreme Court ruling could undo Brown v. Board (and thus allow schools to be re-segregated) (click “expand”):
What are the efforts by this administration — as the nation is waiting to find out the decision on affirmative action in the Supreme Court, what are the next steps? Because, you know, the thought is that it will be overturned — affirmative action. It could have tentacles not only just in that case but in the historic Brown v. Board and in other pieces of affirmative action and DEI around the nation.
(....)
But, again, it has — it has tentacles beyond education into the broader society — workplace, etc. — into the broader society, workplace, et cetera. What does the President say about that as he stood to run on equity and inclusion?
To see the relevant transcript from the April 19 briefing, click “expand.”
White House press briefing [via ABC News Live]
April 19, 2023
12:58 p.m. EasternPETER DOOCY: Sixty-nine percent of people polled by CNBC say they have a negative view of the economy. President Biden talks about the economy all the time. Why —
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: He talks about — oh.
DOOCY: Why aren’t people buying it?
JEAN-PIERRE: He talks about the economy all the time because he wants the American people to know that he’s doing everything that he can to make sure that he’s — that his policies that he’s put forward that have shown that he’s building an economy that doesn’t leave anybody behind; it builds an economy from the bottom up, middle out and he also talks about the economy and when you hear him talk about the economy, he talks about how he’s prioritizing, making sure that we lower inflation and that is where the American people are, meeting them where they are. He’s going to continue to have that conversation. He understands how important that is for Americans and American families and so, he’ll never shy away from that. I know you’re reading a poll right now; that is one poll. But he’s not going to stop talking about what the American people really care about, which is: What — what are we doing here to make sure that we are addressing the issues and the concerns that they have?DOOCY: Okay, on China: China is setting up police stations in the U.S. There’s more proof now that they created COVID. There’s reason to think that there were more spy balloons than the White House has said. Why is it taking so long for President Biden to call Xi and tell him to cut it out?
JEAN-PIERRE: We have said over and over again that the President intends to call President Xi. I don’t have a call to read out to you at this time. Look — and we’ve said this before — we — we believe it’s important to maintain open lines of communication with China. We believe that it is a — it is a — an important bilateral relationship, the U.S.-China relationship, even as we’re talking about strategic competition with China and so, that has not changed. We’re going to continue to move forward in that way.
DOOCY: And then one more. So, Monday, you’re going to have three of the lawmakers who protested after —
JEAN-PIERRE: Peace — peacefully protested.
DOOCY: — who peacefully protested after the Nashville Covenant School shooting. Have any of the victims or the victims’ families been invited to the White House?
JEAN-PIERRE: I don’t have anything to read out to you about any invite.
DOOCY: Why?
JEAN-PIERRE: I just don’t have anything at this time to read out to you — any invite. What I can say to you right now is that the President is focused on getting things done. He’s focused on making sure that we are protecting our communities, that we’re protecting our schools, that we’re protecting our churches, we’re protecting our grocery — grocery stores. That people, as we know, in Buffalo went to the grocery on a Saturday and got murdered. Ten of them were murdered. We see what’s happening in our schools and that’s why he’s bringing these legislators here to have that conversation and to see what else can be done and to highlight that. That’s what the President is using the bully pulpit for. That’s why he continues to put pressure on Congress to get things done, make sure that they’re showing some courage — Republicans in Congress — to make sure that we’re banning assault weapons and so, we cannot have weapons of war in our streets. We cannot have weapons of war in our schools and so, that’s why he’s bringing them there. He’s bringing him here to continue that conversation.
(....)
1:03 p.m. Eastern
APRIL RYAN: What are the efforts by this administration — as the nation is waiting to find out the decision on affirmative action in the Supreme Court, what are the next steps? Because, you know, the thought is that it will be overturned — affirmative action. It could have tentacles not only just in that case but in the historic Brown v. Board and in other pieces of affirmative action and DEI around the nation.
JEAN-PIERRE: So, what I can say is the President supports making higher education access- — accessible to all Americans. As the Department of Justice argued in court, it is important that our colleagues and universities produce graduates who are from all segments of society, who are prepared to succeed — to succeed, and lead an increasingly diverse nation. The Supreme Court reaffirmed this less than a decade ago in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, and it should do so again.
RYAN: But, again, it has — it has tentacles beyond education into the broader society — workplace, et cet- — into the broader society, workplace, et cetera. What does the President say about that as he stood to run on equity and inclusion?
JEAN-PIERRE: And — and you said it right there, April: He stood to run on equity and inclusion and he has shown that throughout his administration. One of the first executive orders that he signed was to make sure we saw that — that type of diversity that — that was — that was — we were leading with diversity in our different agencies and departments and that is what the executive order that he — one of the first executive orders that he signed: make sure that the federal government was leading with that lens and was taking action to make sure that there is inclusion and diversity, she has walked the talk and so — and so the President is — something that he has always said: He’s going to make sure that no one gets left behind. As we’re talking — as we ta — I’ve talked numerous times about his in- — his economic policies. He does that and any other policies that he’s put forward to make sure that, again, no one gets left behind, that we’re making sure there’s inclusion and diversity at the center of everything that he does.
