Tipsheet

Karine Jean-Pierre Pushes Back on Reporters Over Abortion Lawsuit and Biden’s Stance on TikTok

Madeline Leesman
Madeline Leesman  |  March 16, 2023 4:15 PM

Speaking to reporters from the White House on Thursday, Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre spoke on a number of issues, claiming that the “abortion pill,” mifepristone, is “safe” for women and said that Americans should have confidence in the nation’s banking system in the aftermath of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

During the briefing, a reporter asked Jean-Pierre about a current lawsuit in Texas surrounding the federal government’s approval of the medication abortion method. This includes two pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, the former which stops a pregnancy from growing, and the latter which expels the pregnancy from the woman’s body. According to the Guttmacher Institute, this kind of abortion makes up the majority of abortions in the United States. 

In a question to Jean-Pierre, a reporter noted that yesterday, the judge in the case “seemed receptive to the argument that the [abortion] pill is unsafe.” 

Jean-Pierre retorted that there’s “no question” that the drug is safe because it’s been around for 20 years.

Townhall has covered that emergency room visits have increased astronomically with medication abortions. As the FDA loosened regulations on the drug, reports were showing that women in India were suffering from this method by having incomplete abortions. Despite this, the Biden administration has been working to make the drug available at drugstores and via mail, through what is known as a “telemedicine” abortion in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade. 

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Jean-Pierre continued her pro-abortion spiel, saying that the Supreme Court overturning Roe was “dangerous to the health of women.” 

On the topic of TikTok, Jean-Pierre refused to answer if President Biden thinks that Americans should be on the platform, which has ties to the Chinese Communist Party and poses a security risk to Americans. So much so, some GOP governors have unveiled outright bans on the app for state workers. 

"We've expressed over China's potential use of software platforms that could endanger or threaten America's safety and their national security," Jean-Pierre said, adding that Biden's "focus" has been to call on Congress to move forward with legislation around TikTok.

"Does the president think that Americans should be on TikTok?" another reporter followed-up in the briefing. 

“I’m not going to speak to actions that the American people should take or not take,” Jean-Pierre said on the issue. She noted that Biden does not have TikTok on his phone.

As Spencer noted, the White House often dodges questions from reporters about TikTok. The Wall Street Journal’s John McKinnon wrote that the reason why is because “trying to force an outright ban on TikTok—as many Republicans are seeking—would sacrifice what is emerging as a vital campaign asset for Democrats with the 2024 election season looming," In other words, TikTok can be used to reach younger American voters in the 2024 presidential race, and a ban on the app would prevent this.

And, Jean-Pierre answered several questions from reporters about the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, to which she said Americans should have “confidence” in our banking system. 

At the end of the briefing, as she walked out of the room, Jean-Pierre laughed off reporters’ claims that they get yelled at by President Biden and told to “get out” when they ask him questions. That, or he turns his back and walks away. 

Just this week, speaking about Silicon Valley Bank, Biden refused to take questions from reporters.