White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre very much did not like it when Associated Press White House Correspondent Seung Min Kim asked about President Biden’s energy and debate performance on Thursday, June 27. Namely, Kim questioned Biden’s excuse for his poor performance, which is that he was jet lagged, a comment that either means he needs weeks to recover from a trip or that he was lying, and one that Trump mocked on July 4.
Kim’s question came on July 3 and was in the context of another reporter in the press pool mocking President Biden’s alertness when a question about his cognitive health came up, yelling, “if he’s awake,” much to the obvious displeasure of both KJP and the woke reporter asking the question, but to the great delight of those who joked about the comment online.
In any case, Kim, broaching the question, asked, “Thank you. Last night at the fundraiser, the president blamed jet lag for his debate performance, but he was back stateside for well over a week. So, does he really need more than a week and a half to recover from — from traveling in Europe? And did he really — is that really what he thinks caused his poor debate performance?”
KJP began by insisting that she appreciated the question, then seemed to suggest that Biden’s post-debate comments had settled the matter. She said, “So, yeah, just a couple of things. And I do appreciate the question because you — you know, the president has certainly spoken to this many, many times about the debate. And so, he had an opportunity to do that in front of supporters.”
She then started stumbling over her words and rambling a bit, admitting in the process that it was a less-than-great night for Biden. She said, “And I jus- — as you just stated, he did that. He — he talked about, he owned that the debate was not his best night. And it — and he said himself, it’s not an excuse, but it’s an explanation. I was standing here yesterday, and many people were asking why and what’s the explanation. And that’s what you heard from him.”
Continuing, KJP kept stumbling over her words and insisted that the jet lag was still somehow present, insisting, “Look, the two — I think, in addition to the two major trips, he was also doing — continued to do his presidential duties. He worked late in doing that, and he also prepared for the debate. And on top of that, there was, obviously, the jet lag, as you just asked — asked about, and also, he had a cold. And you all heard directly — you heard — you heard from him during the debate. He had a hoarse voice.”
KJP then retreated to the post-debate “cold” excuse given by Team Biden, telling Kim, “Many of you reached out to me and my team and some other members of the White House asking what was going on. We confirmed that he had a cold. And so, I think those two things — continuing, obviously, to do his duties as commander in chief, as the president.”
Concluding, she tried to end the ramble with continual uses of “And,” saying, “And so, I think some of you here in this room can certainly relate to, you know, what — what could happen when you’re having an important moment and you’re not feeling well. And, yeah — and also you wish you could have done better. And so, he took ownership. I think that’s important. And he’s going to continue to make a strong case for his agenda, and that’s what you’re going to see. And he was giving an explanation. And that’s what he wanted to do. He wanted to get that out there and for people to hear directly from him, as he has been doing since — since Friday of last week.”
Watch her here:
It didn’t end there. Kim pressed her on the matter, saying, “It just seems like there — I know you’re calling it an explanation, not an excuse.” She added, as KJP tried interrupting her, “But it does seem like there are new excuses since the debate of what —went wrong there.”
KJP, in response, insisted that it wasn’t an “excuse,” saying, “I would say, I don’t think it’s a new excuse. I think some of you, some of your colleagues reached out to us about the schedule. They — some of your colleagues asked if the — if the schedule was too strenuous or was it because of the jet lag. And so — and so, we — we are laying out and explaining exactly what happened. You heard from the president. You’ve heard from me.”
She added, “And it was, you know, indeed, a — a schedule where, you know, the president traveled six time zones forward to G7 and Italy, nine time zones back to L.A., and three time zones forward again to — to D.C. That’s something that when — the print pooler on that day laid out for — for all of you and — and those who — who rea- — who read the pool notes. And — and on top of that, he did have a cold.”
Concluding with a continued insistence that it wasn’t an excuse, she said, “So, it is an explanation. I don’t think it is an addition. I don’t think it’s — we — we certainly don’t want to explain this away. But you all asked me for an explanation yesterday; the president gave that directly yesterday to his supporters. He wanted to make sure, knowing that all of you would get that information as he’s speaking to his support- — his supporters last night.”
Watch her here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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