President Joe Biden, as Katie highlighted earlier, had perhaps one of his worst moments today in that he repeatedly called for Rep. Jackie Walkorski (R-IN) at an event, despite how the congresswoman was killed early last month in a car accident. Biden himself even acknowledged her death at the time and signed a declaration. Flags were also flown at half staff. Making it even more certain that Biden was indeed talking about Walorski is that he was speaking at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, an event and issue that had been near and dear to her heart.
While White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre often able isn't able to offer an articulate response, her most inadequate yet in the over four months since she's had the job may have come during Wednesday's press briefing. It's not like she didn't have the opportunity to find a way to properly answer as to what the president was doing calling for a dead congresswoman.
As the video above shows, numerous reporters challenged Jean-Pierre. We're often used to seeing Fox News' Peter Doocy as the leading voice when it comes to putting the Biden administration on notice. This time, however, several other reporters took notice of what has become a problem with the president that can simply no longer be ignored.
Jean-Pierre did not discuss the event where Biden called for Walorski until prompted by reporters. Rather, she spent the few moments in the beginning discussing preparedness for Hurricane Ian and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The Biden administration had faced heavy criticism over the president initially not calling Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), despite calling Florida mayors. He ultimately did so on Tuesday evening, though. That being said, until Biden actually did so, Jean-Pierre was also unable to provide a proper response as to why he had not done so.
From the second reporter onward, questions came wondering "what happened?" Jean-Pierre not only claimed "I totally understand," but also emphasized a narrative that "she was at top of mind" for the president, referring to the congresswoman. If that was truly the case, perhaps Biden should have been able to remember that she had died almost two months ago, as another reporter wondered to Jean-Pierre.
The press secretary appeared to become increasingly impatient. In response to that question, she claimed the American people "will understand when someone is at top of mind."
Throughout the press briefing, Jean-Pierre used the phrase "top of mind" approximately 15 times, and even continued to do so after a reporter rightfully told her that "'top of mind' is not an answer."
During the approximately 52 minute long press briefing, there was ten minutes worth of material of a back-and-forth between Jean-Pierre and reporters. That's not an insignificant amount of time.
The narrative has become that Jean-Pierre, as well as the White House overall it would appear, is incapable of defending or even explaining such bizarre moments from the president. It doesn't seem like they're even trying.
Perhaps a silver lining, though, is that the White House press corp has finally noticed. We'll see how long it lasts.
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