Tipsheet

Karine Jean-Pierre Starts Off New Year Just As Confused As Ever

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  January 04, 2023 11:45 AM

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre held her first press briefing of the year. Despite it being a new year, it was just more of the same from the often befuddled and caught off guard press secretary. This is especially when it comes to the crisis at the southern border, as Fox News' Peter Doocy confronted her on. 

Not only did Jean-Pierre claim that President Joe Biden "is a president who has been working since day one to work on border security, to make immigration a priority," it's Republicans who are at fault. Such is a narrative Jean-Pierre has stuck to before. 

Even as Doocy continued to push the press secretary on as to if anyone in the administration believes that the border is secure, Jean-Pierre constantly deflected. "The president has taken historic actions--right?--that no other president has been able to do," she offered. If anything is "historic," it would be the failures, and the record-high border encounters experienced during this administration.

She took it a step further by going with yet another administration talking point, which is to warn about "misinformation."

"Because if we talk about [the border] in a way that is misinformation, then it helps the smugglers," was Jean-Pierre's response. 

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This was hardly the only issue that Jean-Pierre misled on, though. When asked about the president releasing his physical, which was expected at the end of last year, the press secretary claimed that they would indeed release it, "in a transparent way," though she acknowledged they don't have any kind of a timeline other than "in the next, probably, couple of months."

As if the gaslighting hadn't been strong enough, Jean-Pierre did have to offer not just that the president's doctor claims he's in good health, but with a straight face, she pointed out "he's very active" and that "you see it for yourself with your own eyes." She went on to emphasize her claims that they "will be sure to be transparent" before taking another question. 

Jean-Pierre's statements certainly are curious ones, given that they were so slow to release any medical assessment during his first year in office, as Katie highlighted in November of 2021.

It has become increasingly painfully obvious that Biden is our oldest president when it comes to his countless gaffes, slips of the tongue, and moments of confusion, which go beyond the fact that he has a stutter.

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), who is a physician and served as the White House doctor for both former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, predicted during the summer of Biden's first year that the president would be forced to resign or the 25th amendment would be revoked. Jackson has also repeatedly called for Biden to take a cognitive test.

Voters are also souring on Biden, who may announce soon whether or not he will run for reelection in 2024. Multiple polls have shown that the American people, even and including Democrats and others who voted to elect him in 2020, would prefer he not run again. A Harvard CAPS-Harris poll from last found that 66 percent of voters think Biden should not run again, with 31 percent saying it's because "he's too old."

That poll was conducted December 14-15, 2022 with 1,851 registered voters.

Even if Biden decides that he is going to run again, it's worth pointing out that he himself thinks it's "totally legitimate" for people to be concerned about age, "including [his own]," as he told MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart.