Monday's White House press briefing brought quite the amount of spin from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, especially when it comes to, as Katie covered, President Joe Biden's remarks that he'll shut down coal plants. Jean-Pierre also straight up lied about how the Biden administration is going after pro-life activists though through its heavily politicized Department of Justice (DOJ).
REPORTER: "Trump said the radical Democrats are locking up pro-life activists..."
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 7, 2022
KJP: "Clearly that's not true...it's just not true. It's false. It's a lie. It's not true."
REPORTER: "Pro-life pregnancy centers are being attacked..." pic.twitter.com/XPuGG9vBuV
While a reporter brought it up in the context of how former President Donald Trump made such comments during his rally last Thursday in Sioux City, Iowa, to ask "what is your White House response," Trump is hardly the only one talking about this. Townhall has reported on these multiple activists, which includes those featured in Mia's exclusive footage.
WATCH: @TuckerCarlson mentioned my reporting tonight on the pro-life activists targeted by Biden's DOJ.
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) October 11, 2022
"We should note that we only have this video evidence because of the hard work of Mia Cathell at @townhallcom, which broke this story. God bless."pic.twitter.com/NX73m9mP2r
Jean-Pierre, who is often unable to provide satisfactory responses, was even more dismissive than usual. "Clearly, that’s not true. I’m not going to say more than that. It’s just not true. It’s false. It’s a lie. It’s not true. So I’m going to move on," she claimed.
The press secretary doubled down on telling her lie, while claiming Trump was lying, when pushed by the reporter. "There’s this perception though that pro-life activists are being persecuted and, in the meantime, like, pro-life pregnancy centers are being attacked and--," the reporter accurately put, though he was cut off by Jean-Pierre.
"It’s not," she emphasized. "It is just--that is just not something that I’m going to comment from here about what the former President said. It is--you know, I’m just not going to get anything further."
Again, though, it's not just Trump saying such things. And, as the reporter pointed out, "there's this perception," though it's more than just that.
Jean-Pierre continued to behave combatively and dismissively as she cut the reporter off once more to double down on how "again, I’m just not going to get any further."
Not only are pro-life pregnancy centers, as well as organizations, and even Catholic Churches being attacked, but violent abortion activists are being let off the hook. While testifying before the Senate in July, FBI Director Christopher Wray was unable to give any satisfactory answers as to if they had prosecuted abortion activists under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. In reality, pro-life activists are being prosecuted with reckless abandon, even after local authorities refused to bring charges.
Democrats and pro-abortion activists have also had a habit of playing whataboutism, as they call to mind how abortion businesses have also been victimized by attacks. Last week, however, the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), released a study that found there were 135 attacks against pro-lifers between May 3 and September 24, 2022. In contrast, there were six against the other side. That means pro-lifers were 22 times more likely to be victimized.
Dr. John Lott of the CRPC released a statement about the study.
The overwhelming narrative in the media is the claim those on the right are responsible for most of the politically motivated violence in the US. It has been a theme in the news media after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision was leaked, with many claiming that there was disproportionate violence against pro-choice providers. But a review of cases shows over 22 times more violence against pro-life advocates.
The media has uncritically accepted pro-choice claims of violence without asking for a list of cases.
Despite so much more violence against pro-life advocates, the Biden Administration’s sole focus on the very rare violence against pro-choice providers ignores what appears to be a much more prevalent problem.
It cannot be stressed enough how one-sided this administration has behaved towards violence and vandalism when it comes to the abortion issue.
This dismissiveness about the illegal targeting of pro-lifers continues to this day. As Julio covered on Monday, protesters continue to illegally picket outside the home of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, just as they have outside the home of other conservative justices. Let's also not forget how Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson, which overturned Roe v. Wade, was forced to flee his home after someone leaked the draft opinion back in early May. Further, Justice Brett Kavanaugh was even targeted with an assassination attempt.
The White House has refused to condemn the illegal protests, as they seem to see it as enough that they stress the protests ought to be "peaceful." Jean-Pierre's predecessor, Jen Psaki, even said from the podium that they "encourage" such protests.