On Tuesday morning, POLITICO was out with a damning headline, "Dems in full-blown ‘freakout’ over Biden," with Guy also adding his own two cents on how "all is not well in Democratdom" when covering that report. That same day, Fox News' Peter Doocy confronted White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during the briefing about if the White House shares such concerns.
"Are you guys here at the White House in full-blown freak out mode," Doocy bluntly asked Jean-Pierre, while others could be heard laughing.
"What are you talking about? What are you talking about, Peter," Jean-Pierre questioned in response as Doocy tried to explain.
"There's a POLITICO story," he reminded her, as he quoted the piece, specifically an anonymous Democratic operative described as someone who is "in close touch with the White House."
"But Biden’s stubbornly poor polling and the stakes of the election 'are creating the freakout,' he said," is how the piece quoted that operative, a quote which Doocy read out to Jean-Pierre to remind her of.
"So again, I'm really mindful--I'm not going to comment on 2024 election," Jean-Pierre offered. "I will say this: uh, the president has never forgotten where he comes--where he came from, who he is. He understands what the American people are going through as they're sitting around the kitchen table. You talk--you hear the president talk about his time growing up where he watched his family--having to sit around the kitchen table, making incredibly difficult decision, and the president has always said he's going to fight for communities that have been forgotten and you see that in the policies--economic policies that he's put forward. He's going to continue to fight for the middle class. He's going to continue to fight in every way that he can.
Jean-Pierre went on to list specific examples we've heard before from this administration. "You heard me at the beginning talk about junk fees--incredibly important, and [Biden's] going to continue to fight and to make--you know-- that corporation greed doesn't continue to take hold. He is--that is something that he's been very clear about, while Republicans are doing the opposite. They put out a policy where they want to give a big tax break to the wealthiest among us--billionaires and--and corporations," she claimed. "That's not what the president wants to do.”
KJP denies that "the White House in full-blown freakout mode" per a Politico report on Biden's horrible polling. pic.twitter.com/ACjWL3A297
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 28, 2024
It might be too optimistic to say that there is this widespread sense of a "freakout" mode. Or at least, Republicans shouldn't rely too heavily on it. Former and potentially future President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden in the polls, by +1.1 as of early Wednesday morning, according to RealClearPolling. But, one concern out of this narrative could be if Trump and Republicans get too cocky as a result. There's also how Democrats and other Never Trump voters might heed the call, come home, and help reelect Biden.
Jean-Pierre may not be willing talk about the 2024 election, given concerns to do with the Hatch Act, which she's been found to be in violation of before. It's still curious that she focuses on trying to Biden seem like this supporter of everyday Americans, when polls also show that voters don't seem to be buying that narrative. Jean-Pierre seemed to be going for mention of those kitchen table issues on the economy, but Trump continues to lead Biden on that issue in multiple polls, and it's not even close.
While Jean-Pierre herself didn't mention the word "inflation" in such an exchange, Biden has blamed inflation rates on corporations in social media posts before. Jean-Pierre herself tried to raise "corporation greed" on Tuesday. Those posts from Biden were not well received, and have even been hit with context from Community Notes.
That POLITICO report mentions inflation, and not in the most favorable ways towards Biden:
While he’s long lagged Biden in cash on hand, Trump’s fundraising outpaced the president’s by $25 million last month, and included a record-setting $50.5 million haul from an event in Palm Beach, Florida. One adviser to major Democratic Party donors provided a running list that has been shared with funders of nearly two dozen reasons why Biden could lose, ranging from immigration and high inflation to the president’s age, the unpopularity of Vice President Kamala Harris and the presence of third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
This was hardly the only question that Jean-Pierre didn't take too kindly to when asked about by Doocy. She also tried to reword his question to make it about Memorial Day when asked about how Biden met with Hallie Biden, who is not just Beau Biden's widow, but is a witness in Hunter Biden's gun trial starting in a few days.
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