White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre abruptly ended an interview with a North Carolina radio station after being asked about President Biden’s mental acuity and about rising gas and grocery prices.
During the interview, which was arranged by the White House, the reporter asked Jean-Pierre if she thought Biden had “dementia.”
When asked about high prices, Jean-Pierre defended Biden’s record and actions taken to lower costs.
“When I told a number of people that I was talking to you today — it was interesting, though — they all said, ‘Would you please just ask her, does the president have dementia?’” WBT Charlotte’s Mark Garrison said. “So before I move on from it, does he?”
“That, Mark, I can’t even believe you’re asking me this question,” Jean-Pierre said. “That is [sic] incredibly offensive question to ask.”
“But you know people ask it,” Garrison said.
“Wait, oh, let me, no, no, no, no, no, you, Mark, you, you took, you’re taking us down this rabbit hole. Let me, uh, let me, let me be very clear about this,” Jean-Pierre said.
“For the past several years, the President’s physician has laid out very, in a comprehensive way, the President’s health. Uh, this is a president, if you watch him every day, if you really pay attention to his record and what he has done, you will see exactly how focused he’s been on the American people, how historic his actions has [sic] been,” she said.
“And so I’m not even going to truly, truly, uh, uh, really, you know, take, take the premise of your question. I think it is incredibly insulting, and, and so we can, you know, we can move on to the next question.”
“How does Mr. Biden win votes when people don’t have as much disposable income?” Garrison asked.
“Look, the president understands. He grew up in a middle-class, working-class family in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He gets it. He understands how difficult it is for Americans who are sitting around their kitchen table every month trying to figure out what they’re going to pay for. You have to remember, when the president walked into this administration, there were multiple crises happening,” Jean-Pierre said.
She added, “There was COVID, the economy was in a tailspin because of the last administration, because of what President Trump left us with. Now you’re asking me about gas prices. The president took action on gas prices. Let’s not forget Russia’s invasion on Ukraine skyrocketed prices of gas. And because the president took action, we see we are in a different place than we were a year ago in gas prices. Eggs, milk, seafood products, all the important groceries, those costs have gone down because of what this president has been able to do.”
“And, and with that, thank you so much, Mark. Have an amazing, amazing day,” Jean-Pierre said, hanging up.
She then abruptly ended the call, surprising the reporter.
“Listen, I am nominating you to get a press corps badge, and you need to go to the White House,” Garrison’s co-host said. “I’m sorry, but you asked three, four incredibly salient, important questions that are all front of mind. Nothing out of bounds. No baba booeying or anything like that, right? And you did it exactly right on. I don’t understand the fragility of this person.”
“I was supposed to get more time with her and the fact that, all of a sudden, she decided to just hang up the phone took me by surprise because I had a couple of questions that weren’t as controversial. But I’ll never get to ask them, I guess,” Garrison said.
The White House said Jean-Pierre had back-to-back interviews scheduled with limited time for each.
However, the reporter said additional clips from the full six-minute interview would be aired, suggesting the White House explanation was inaccurate.
