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Karine Jean-Pierre Struggles at the Podium When Asked About Pro-Hamas Protests

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 31, 2023 8:30 AM

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has not had the best track record when it comes to making assurances from the podium that the Biden administration is committed to not only fighting back against anti-semitism, but also speaking clearly to concerns about pro-Hamas protests going on around the country. The press secretary began Monday's briefing with what may have been her strongest condemnation of anti-semitism yet, but that didn't carry over to being able to speak to concerns about such protests.

"Since the October 7th Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, we have seen an alarming rise in reported anti-semitic incidents at schools and on college campuses," Jean-Pierre admitted in her opening remarks, an improvement from what she had to say last Monday. "There's no place for hate in America and we condemn any anti-semitic threat or incident in the strongest in the strongest terms," she continued.

"We're also closely monitoring and concerned by the reports of anti-semitic threats at Cornell University to the students at Cornell and on campuses across the country: we're tracking these threats closely. We're thinking of you and we're going to do everything we can on both at Cornell and across the country to counter to counter terrorism, anti-semitism," she shared.

"Today we announced that the Biden-Harris administration is taking multiple actions to address this alarming rise. President Biden has been clear: we can't stand by and stand silent in the face of hate. We must without equivocation denounce anti-semitism." Nevertheless, Jean-Pierre reverted to old habits in that she still felt the need to mention Islamophobia as well. "We must also without equivocation denounce Islamophobia." 

In addition to sharing what the Biden administration has supposedly been doing, Jean-Pierre mentioned that "this week, senior administration officials are meeting with Jewish leaders and universities to discuss the threat of anti-semitism on campuses and what the administration is doing to act. In the coming in the upcoming days and weeks, the administration will continue to work to combat anti-semitism and all hate fueled violence on schools and also on college campuses."

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Later in the briefing, in response to Fox News' Peter Doocy asking "does President Biden think the anti-Israel protesters in this country are extremists," Jean-Pierre didn't have much of an answer. This is despite how prevalent such protests were over the weekend, and in major cities such as New York City, where pro-Hamas activists shut down the Brooklyn Bridge. 

"What I can say is what we've been very clear about this, when it comes to anti-semitism, there is no place. We have to make sure that we speak against it, very loud, and be very clear about that." She went on to list examples of anti-semitism on the far-right, calling to mind that "remember, when the president decided to run for president is [because of] what he saw in Charlottesville, in 2017."

"When he saw neo-Nazis marching down the streets of Charlottesville, with vile, anti-semitic, just hatred. And [Biden] was very clear then and he's very now, he's taken actions against the past two years and he's continued to be clear, there is no place, no place for this type of vile and this kind of rhetoric," she continued.

While the answer may have been the strongest rebuke of anti-semitism we've seen yet from Jean-Pierre at the podium, it just didn't do enough to actually answer the question and call out anti-Israeli and pro-Hamas protesters.

If Jean-Pierre were willing to be so "loud," one would think she'd be able to refer to such protesters as the extremists that they are. This is especially when they have no problem slapping that label on those on the right, including Republican lawmakers. And, when it comes to her past responses, Jean-Pierre has not actually always been as clear as she had been during Monday's press briefing.

As Doocy pointed out in his follow-up, the Biden administration does throw out the label. "And despite, despite this kind of rhetoric, we hear you guys talk about extremists all the time. It is usually about MAGA extremists," Doocy pointed out. "So what about these protesters who are making Jewish students feel unsafe on college campuses? Are they extremists?"

"I've been very, very clear, we are calling out any form of hate, any form of hate. It is not acceptable, it should not be acceptable here. And we are going to continue to call that out and let and let me be very clear. This is a president that has continued to have that fight in his office in this administration," Jean-Pierre insisted.

Further, she continued to revert to old habits when it came to lumping in concerns with Islamophobia and the targeting of Muslims with concerns about anti-semitism. This is despite the FBI's statistics for previous years at the national level, as revealed in context from Community Notes with regards to Jean-Pierre's comments from last Monday. Recent numbers on hate crimes in New York City as discussed by the NYPD last week also showed far more incidents of attacks against Jews, destroying Jean-Pierre's narrative even further. It's no wonder Jean-Pierre claimed last Tuesday she misheard the question and provided a subsequent statement to POLITICO.

"You know, when [Biden] repealed [former President Donald] Trump's Muslim ban on his very first day in office. That is something that this president did. He also established an inter-policy committee to counter Islamophobia, anti-semitism, and related forms of bias and discrimination," she continued. "We have taken this very, very, very seriously from the president all the way on down."

Doocy pivoted to discussing the anti-semitism occurring specifically on college campuses with his next question. "Does President Biden look at these anti Israel protests on college campuses and think it's nice to see that the country's youth are so involved or does he think the next generation is doing it?"

"Here's the thing. There's no place for hate in America. No, no, no, no, I'm telling you, there's no place for hate in America and we condemn any anti-semitic threat or incident in the strongest terms," Jean-Pierre insisted. 

"And you heard me say at the top," she said, referencing her remarks mentioned above. "I gave a message to students who are feeling, who are feeling under threat right now. Right? You know, we're tracking these threats very closely. We are there for them. No student should have to be able to go to class live on campus in fear and you know, these incidents, these reported anti-semitic incidents at schools and on campuses that should not be, we have to condemn them, we have to condemn them," she continued.