White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recently snapped at a reporter who she accused of twisting her words when they quoted her. Shortly after President-elect Donald Trump’s landslide win in the presidential election, a Fox News White House reporter pressed KJP on the Democratic rhetoric that the nation would crumble after he won.
White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked KJP, “As Gabe mentioned, yeah, you know, this administration message to millions of Americans that they’re going to wake up day after the election if Trump won and have their rights stripped away, that democracy would crumble. And the President said today, we’re going to be okay. So how did, how do you square it?”
Jean-Pierre responded, “I can square that. I’m going to square that in a way that hopefully makes sense, because I’ve been answering this question multiple times.” Indicating that the White House accepted the results of the election, she continued, “The American people made the decision, there was an election two nights ago. There was and it was a free and fair election, and we respect the election process we do, and Americans spoke, and so the job of the president is to make sure we respect that.”
Furthermore, KJP maintained that Biden would ensure a peaceful transfer of power. “The job of the president is to make sure that we have a peaceful transfer of power,” she said. “That is what the American people deserve, and that’s what we’re going to it’s really, it’s not complicated. It’s truly, truly, as simple as that, as simple as that. The President called the president elect invited him to the White House.”
The White House press secretary continued, “You know why? Because that’s customary. That is customary. That is what you do, if you respect what the American people decided. That’s what you do, and that’s what the President’s going to make sure that the Trump transition has what it needs, which is being led, obviously, by our chief of staff here. Why? Because the President wants to lead by example. It’s not complicated. It really isn’t.”
Heinrich followed up, “Lead by example is the message to people who are fearful based on what the messaging was about?” After the Fox News correspondent continued to call out the alarming rhetoric from Democrats that had been continually touted for years, KJP asserted that her words were being taken out of context.
Jean-Pierre interjected, “Well, now you’re just twisting everything around, and that’s really unfair….No, no. Jackie, it’s unfair because I’ve been standing here trying to be very respectful to what happened the last two nights, two nights ago, being respectful. I’ve been standing here saying that we respect the decision that the American people made.”
Before wrapping up the press conference and making a hasty exit, KJP concluded, “I’ve been standing here and saying that the President is going to put the American people first. I’ve been standing here talking about how the American the President is going to make sure that they get what they deserve, which is a peaceful transfer of power. I do not appreciate having my words twisted. That is, I have been very clear, very, very, very clear about what the President wants to do, and the Vice President, we want to make sure that we deliver for the American people they deserve. They deserve a peaceful transfer of power, and that’s what you’re going to see. Thanks everybody.”
Watch the tense press briefing below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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