Tensions got as high as they had, at that point in the Biden Administration, ever been in the White House Press Room in September of 2022 after Jen Psaki-replacement Karine Jean-Pierre lost her cool under routine questioning for reporters. Usually, she just flubs and gaslights her audience; this time, she allowed the room to “descend into chaos” before asking for a reset.
What happened was, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre got frustrated and shouted down a reporter during the press briefing. Her frustration and shouting came after the reporter express outrage at not being called on to ask a question, and occurred at the end of the briefing when Jean-Pierre was called on another reporter to ask a final question. The frustrated reporter erupted, shouting her own questions over Jean-Pierre’s protests to “respect your colleagues.”
The incident began with KJP sayin, “I’m going to go around, I — we can go — we can — we can go back and forth on it. We can go back and forth on it. I was supposed to go to Chris in the back and I skipped him so I’m going to go back to Chris.” Chiming in, a reporter asked, “Karine, my question is about the marriage bill that is in the Senate.”
KJP then snapped, accusing the reporter of being disrespectful. She said, “You’re not being respectful. Go ahead. To your colleagues, to your own colleagues.” The reporter then snapped back, “[inaudible] that’s in the Senate. I’m going to ask about that.” KJP said in response, as crosstalk ensued, “As you see, I jump (crosstalk) — okay, go ahead.”
That’s when a reporter snapped that they had been trying to ask questions for a week, but had been put off by KJP while trying to do so. That reporter said, “We have been here asking for a question for more than a week.” KJP, instead of just letting them ask a question, shouted back, “Respect your colleagues. Respect your colleagues. Go ahead, Chris.”
That reporter asked, “My question is, will the President reach out to Senator Schumer about scheduling a vote on that marriage bill when the lawmakers return —“ But he was drowned out by crosstalk, so KJP cut him off and snapped, “I’m sorry, Chris, you’re going to have to start from the beginning, because there was some disrespect happening. You’re being disrespectful. Go ahead.”
Watch the incident here:
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One example of KJP’s extreme unpreparedness and unsuitabity for her job was put on full display during an appearance with CNN’s Don Lemon. During a softball interview, Lemon brought up the issue of Joe Biden’s mental and physical fitness, and KJP reacted with expressed shock and annoyance at the question that many find reasonable.
“Don! You’re asking me this question! Oh my gosh, he’s the president of the United States! You know, he — I can’t even keep up with him,” Jean-Pierre declared. “We just got back from New Mexico. We just got back from California. Uh, that is — I, I, that is — that is not a question that we should be even asking. Just look at the work that he does. Just look at how he’s delivering for the American public.”
Watch that here:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=403270861825688
Featured image: The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons