Since President Joe Biden's disastrous debate last Thursday, what few briefings the White House has had have been sorely lacking in substantial information, as Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre continues to give unsatisfactory answers. This not only has to do with how Jean-Pierre continues to come up with excuses and gaslights when it comes to the president's mental fitness, as was the case on Tuesday and Wednesday, but also how Biden feels about the U.S. Supreme Court.
During Wednesday's briefing, Jean-Pierre was asked a rather direct question by a reporter, who referenced Biden's remarks from Monday and asked "does the president respect the authority of the Supreme Court?" Despite how that should have prompted an immediate "yes" or "no" response, hopefully a "yes," Jean-Pierre began by offering "here's what I will say," and then rambled on with a non-answer about January 6.
"Here's what I will say: the president has spoken often, very powerfully about the events of January 6, he has, and his views on what happened on that day. And what you heard from the president Monday night, he wasn't supposed to speak, he came back, he saw--he--he felt so strongly about the decision from the Supreme Court that he came back early and wanted to speak directly to the American people, and that's what he did," Jean-Pierre offered. "It was that significant. He believed as president of the United States, to speak directly to the American people," she continued, going on to repeat herself but not actually answer the direct question.
Jean-Pierre then mostly summarized Biden's remarks. "And he said this is a dangerous precedent. It is. It's a dangerous precedent. He also said and laid out that the Supreme Court has continued to take away, long established freedoms and norms, including a woman's right to choose and now threatening the fundamental American principle that no one is above the law." Biden may have indeed made such arguments, but that doesn't mean that what he said was a correct interpretation of what the Court ruled.
"And so, this is why the president came back, and that's why he spoke out about, and he fears for our democracy and he knows we must do everything that we can to fight for it," Jean-Pierre stressed.
Finally, after he let her provide her complete non-answer, the reporter pointed out, "but he can disagree with the ruling," asking does he respect the authority?"
"He respects the authority of the Supreme Court, and like you just said in your question, he disagrees with your ruling," Jean-Pierre responded after wasting more than enough time. She still continued to rant against the Court some more, in case there was any doubt the point she wanted to emphasize. "Absolutely, it is unprecedented, it is dangerous. That's why the president wanted to make sure that the American people heard directly from him."
That Jean-Pierre noted Biden "wasn't supposed to speak" could be quite telling. And for all this emphasis on Biden speaking "directly" to the American people, it was through prepared remarks for less than four minutes and involved no questions.
Reporter: Does the president respect the authority of the Supreme Court?
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 3, 2024
*Karine Jean-Pierre gives lengthy non-answer*
Reporter: But does he respect the Court?
KJP finally answers: Yes. pic.twitter.com/Y6CLAeQIKF
One would hope that Jean-Pierre would answer with a "yes," which she eventually did, but that isn't exactly what we've seen from Biden.
Given how Biden offered a completely distorted interpretation of the day's decision on Trump v. United States on presidential immunity, it was a fair question to ask if this president "respect[s] the authority of the Supreme Court, considering all of his fearmongering from just a couple of days prior. He's also shown a lack of respect for such authority when he brags about his student loan debt plans in defiance of Court rulings and openly threatens the justices for how they rule in cases, especially those on abortion, a pet issue for Biden and the Democrats. It's particularly rich, then, that Jean-Pierre would claim it's the justices who are doing any kind of threatening.
At one point in his brief remarks, Biden, just as Jean-Pierre did, also referenced January 6, to blame former and potentially future President Donald Trump for the events that day, despite how then Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has taken responsibility for a lack of preparedness.
Jean-Pierre just basically regurgitated what the president had already said in prepared remarks, until the reporter finally asked her his direct question once more.
With these examples, along with Jean-Pierres uninspiring response, it appears there's plenty of evidence that Biden does not respect such authority.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member