White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre got riled up on Thursday when she was pressed by reporters over President Joe Biden’s claim of having no involvement with his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business associates in the past.
The question had come from the New York Post’s Steven Nelson, who asked Jean-Pierre to explain why Biden spent a lot of time speaking with the foreign business associates despite denying any interaction with them.
“For a lot of people at home who only view this in very broad strokes, could you explain to people why the president interacted with so many of his relatives’ foreign associates and why he continues to deny the interaction? How should people think about this,” he had asked.
In response to Nelson’s question, Jean-Pierre instead slammed Republicans and digressed to the House vote that formalized the impeachment inquiry into Biden.
“Well, let’s be very clear here — and I talked about this yesterday and I’ll talk about it a little bit more — and the president put out a statement yesterday that was very clear. What we’re seeing from House Republicans is a waste of time and it is certainly, you know, a baseless political stunt, that’s what we’re seeing,” she said.
She went further, “And they’re leaving, House Republicans are leaving this week to — you know — enjoy a nice holiday, right? As most Americans should. But what happened to the funding to Ukraine? They haven’t been able to get that done.”
Jean-Pierre went on to list other policy issues at hand, including the border and the looming government shutdown, criticizing Republicans for not doing much to address these issues.
After lashing out at House Republicans, she found her way back to the real question she was asked and began to rapidly shell out denials.
“There’s been zero evidence, zero evidence. You can ask me about engagement and what the president has done with his family in conversation. But there’s no evidence,” she stated.
When Nelson tried to say something, the press secretary did not allow him, but instead continued her tirade of denial.
“Wait, wait. But there’s no evidence. There is no evidence that the president has done wrongdoing. There’s none. Absolutely none. None. And that is just a fact. You’ve heard it from Republicans themselves. So they’re wasting their time. Instead of doing the work on behalf of the American people, they go after the president’s family. But that’s a waste of time.”
.@NYPost's @StevenNelson10: "For a lot of people…who only view this in very broad strokes, could you explain to people why the President interacted with so many of his relatives' foreign associates and why he continues to deny the interaction? How should people think about… pic.twitter.com/c4kaPFrskL
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 14, 2023
At this point, Nelson was able to come in and he countered her innocence claims, pointing out that there was indeed evidence to prove that Biden lied when he denied ever interacting with those associates.
Jean-Pierre, however, insisted that the president did not lie. She then dismissed the Republican-led probe into him as “baseless” and “a political stunt.”
“They are wasting the American people’s time. What they should be doing is the things that I just listed. They’re going to go home, but they haven’t taken care of what— We need to make sure that we are helping Ukraine. There’s going to be potentially a shutdown next month. They have done nothing, nothing to avert that shutdown,” she concluded before taking questions from another reporter.
.@NYPost's @StevenNelson10: "Is there a way to counter the central message, though, that the President interacted with associates and has been lying about it since –"
KJP: "The President hasn't been lying –"
Nelson: "– what is the [inaudible]?"
KJP: "– about anything as it… pic.twitter.com/0gxDQ3TuXH
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 14, 2023
