White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced tough questions from reporters on Friday regarding outgoing President Joe Biden’s noticeable absence during his final days in office, despite numerous pressing issues unfolding in Washington. This comes amid speculation that Biden is “quiet quitting” and failing to lead his party to the finish line.
The press briefing opened with a question on the minds of many Americans wondering where Biden has been amid the ongoing spending bill battle that needs to be passed in order to avoid a government shutdown. Many speculate that the 81-year-old president’s mental and physical health has left him unable to finish out his presidential duties after a Wall Street Journal article revealed that his handlers stage-managed his presidency to hide the extent of his age-related health. Jean-Pierre deflected rather than providing a clear answer, shifting the blame onto Republicans instead of addressing Biden’s apparent lack of involvement.
A reporter asked Jean-Pierre if the president had spoken to any lawmakers regarding the controversial funding bill. In response, she accused Republicans of playing politics and blowing up the deal.
“Let me first say this… Republicans blew up this deal. They did,” she said. “They have to fix this. Period. They have to.”
Q: Has Biden even bothered to speak to lawmakers about the spending bill or has he just completely checked out due to his cognitive deficiency?
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 20, 2024
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: *blames Republicans* pic.twitter.com/HdQcZiNGRE
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Jean-Pierre further accused the GOP of “doing the bidding with their billionaire friends at the expense of hard-working Americans.”
Reporters, however, did not let her off the hook. Instead, they continued to press Jean-Pierre harder on why Biden had not publicly addressed a potential government shutdown just days before Christmas, given the severity of the issue.
“What Americans need to know is that you have Republicans in Congress, in the House, who got in the way, who stopped a bipartisan agreement. They got in the way. They created this mess,” Jean-Pierre said.
The press secretary claimed that the first spending bill, more than 1,300 pages long and contained unnecessary spending, such as giving Congress members a pay raise, was better than a trimmed-down 600-page version. She blamed Republicans once again, accusing them of providing “space to their billionaire friends and not put[ting] the American people first.”
Karine Jean-Pierre Refuses To Address Why Biden Will Not Speak To The American People About The Pending Government Shutdown Which Comes Just A Day After A WSJ Report Highlighted How The White House Has Hid His Cognitive Decline pic.twitter.com/xImNtwULYo
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 20, 2024
Another reporter asked Jean-Pierre when Americans can expect to hear from Biden about the stalled funding deal, which, you guessed it, she turned pointed fingers at Republicans instead of answering the question.
RNCResearch: REPORTER: "When is the next time that people will hear from [Biden]?"
— Republican Women of Mercer County 💪🇺🇸 (@RWOMC) December 20, 2024
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals." pic.twitter.com/bXW9ia1D8H
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