Tipsheet

'Done Purposefully': KJP Gives Curious Response About Biden's Abrupt Departure From Ceremony

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  September 06, 2023 7:15 PM

During Wednesday's press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended President Joe Biden's decision to abruptly leave the Medal of Honor ceremony on Tuesday. 

When speaking to the president's decision, she claimed the president exited the event "as planned." As Jean-Pierre spun it, Biden "left as planned, as it was planned, uh, he left when there was a pause in the program in order to minimize, to minimize his close contact with attendees who were about to participate in a reception."

When pressed further during the press briefing, Jean-Pierre doubled down on how Biden abruptly leaving "was done on purpose" and "was done very purposefully, so that, uh, again, he wasn't, he wasn't there for too long." 

According to Jean-Pierre, Biden and Army Captain Larry L. Taylor spent time together beforehand, where they were masked, or so press secretary relayed.

Not only did Biden unceremoniously leave the event, he also did not have a mask on for the end of the ceremony. This is despite Jean-Pierre stating earlier in the day, during Tuesday's press briefing that Biden "will be masking while indoors and around people in alignment with CDC guidance."

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Jean-Pierre during Wednesday's press briefing spoke to how "the president took off his mask... to give incredibly powerful remarks," also adding that "for a brief time afterwards, he also didn't have his mask on." He was not giving any kind of "incredibly powerful remarks" as he was leaving though, as again, he wouldn't take questions. 

If Biden cared so much about  "minimiz[ing] his close contact," why did he keep his mask off, though? The hypocrisy continues.

Biden seems to have acknowledged his hypocrisy, given that he joked before giving remarks on Wednesday about now wearing a mask. Acknowledging that "they keep telling me because this has to be 10 days or something, I gotta keep wearing it, but don't tell them I didn't have it on when I walked in." These remarks are in strong contrast to how in January of last year he sought to shame Americans into wearing masks, calling it "a patriotic duty." 

The president is supposed to be following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) because First Lady Jill Biden had tested positive for COVID on Monday.