Let's stipulate that the job of any political spokesperson entails spinning on behalf of their boss, portraying him or her in the best possible light. This sometimes involves, shall we say, stretching the truth or cherry-picking points of emphasis. But when the chief spokesperson for the President of the United States pushes normal spin into intelligence-insulting gaslighting and outright lies, the press corps typically reacts negatively. Karine Jean-Pierre, the top mouthpiece for the Biden White House, crosses that line routinely -- frequently offering preposterous assertions when challenged, usually by a small handful of reporters (when she attempts answers at all, that is, as opposed to referring inquiries to others).
She simply won't talk about the expanding Biden family enrichment scheme scandal, no matter what new revelations arise. She refuses to deal with ethical questions that have explicitly been established as within her remit. And she lies brazenly about policy failures, such as the president's disastrous border crisis. Consider these two answers, uncorked on back to back days. First:
DOOCY: "Eric Adams is saying...any plan that does not include stopping the flow at the border is a failed plan. So, why aren't you guys stopping the flow at the border?"
KJP: "We are stopping the flow...[W]hat [Biden] has been able to do...is indeed stopping...the flow."
Fox's Bill Melugin pushes back with facts:
Per multiple sources, Border Patrol apprehended more than 7,000 migrants who crossed the border illegally yesterday alone, led by the Tucson, AZ sector with over 2,200. These numbers do not include known gotaways, ports of entry, or paroles into the U.S. via CBP One app...A reminder, DHS took a victory lap in early June when daily illegal crossings averaged 3,400 in the weeks after Title 42 ended, attributing the drop to the Biden admin’s “comprehensive plan”. We saw 7,000+ yesterday, more than double that prior average.
I'll note that even during the "lull," border encounters (excluding tens of thousands of monthly got-aways) were more than triple what President Obama's DHS Secretary described as "crisis" levels. And those weekly numbers have since doubled. People are coming in droves to the US border because they've heard, mostly correctly, that they have a very good chance of being allowed to stay indefinitely, or for an extended period of time. This is an even more laughable lie: "The President has done more to secure the border, to deal with this issue of immigration than anybody else — he really has.” It's not even worth specifically rebutting this. The effectively open borders under Joe Biden have resulted in roughly seven million illegal crossings since he took office. This is, by far, the worst record in modern American history.
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His administration has caused this crisis. Directly. He refuses to reinstate successful Trump-era policies, partly because they're Trump's, and partly because the administration is anti-enforcement. The President and Vice President have barely even attempted to pretend to care about what's happening, addressing the issue as rarely as possible. The Biden/Mayorkas Department of Homeland Security has demonized US law enforcement agents, while issuing directives blocking deportations of even those illegal immigrants subsequently convicted of multiple categories of additional crimes. This president's spokeswoman is allowed to lie and stonewall because the press corps is largely comprised of leftist activists who share their tribe's obsession with identity -- and Jean-Pierre has declared herself an "historic figure" because of her identity. They're reluctant to go there.
They're also likely a bit embarrassed for her, given how conspicuously bad she is at the job, so they feel bad making things any tougher for her. But most importantly, they're on the team. They are partisan Democrats who are rooting for their side, especially with the looming threat of Trump's candidacy hovering over this administration's failures. This is a question that must be asked, but the answer really is simple: "One of the distinguishing features of Trump’s presidency was an aggressive press corps that felt obligated to call out Trump’s ‘lies’ — so why won’t they apply this same standard to Biden who is inarguably a world-class liar?" Answer: The media 'fact checkers' don't come hard after Biden or his spokesperson because Biden is a Democrat, and so are the media 'fact checkers.'
Finally, in light of Jean-Pierre's recent, ludicrous statement that Biden is so energetic and busy that it's "hard to keep up" with him, I'll show you yesterday's official presidential schedule. Zero public events, though they did add shuffling Biden into FEMA for a few minutes to discuss the hurricane yesterday. During that appearance, he did another one of these. Today, he's embarking on his third vacation in as many weeks.
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