Karine Jean-Pierre refutes claims of 'hiding information' about Biden's health after debate debacle
WASHINGTON, DC: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre staunchly defended President Joe Biden against accusations of concealing information about his mental fitness during a heated press conference on Tuesday, July 2.
“Is anyone in the White House hiding information about the president’s health or his ability to do the job day to day?” NBC News reporter Kelly O’Donnell inquired Jean-Pierre, per OK!
“Absolutely not,” Jean-Pierre asserted.
“Given the fact that it’s more than a bad night when his political future is threatened, would he be willing to provide more medical information? Would he be willing to have Dr. O’Connor provide more to answer these questions?” O’Donnell asked.
“Kelly O, I certainly understand the question, I appreciate the question, but what we have provided has been very transparent,” the White House press secretary shot back.
Karine Jean-Pierre stresses transparency amid concerns over Biden's health
Jean-Pierre countered by emphasizing the administration’s transparency, noting the most recent update on Biden’s health was earlier this year in February. “It wasn’t too long ago. It was indeed this year,” she said.
“We’ve now gone several days where he has only done teleprompter comments, he’s not taken questions, I know you’ve announced a press conference, I appreciate that, and an interview, we appreciate that but there is a period of time here where the public is trying to understand what happened and the president could help to answer that by engaging with us in an unscripted way right now,” O’Donnell added.
Joe Biden's debate performance fuels health concerns
Biden's health came under scrutiny following his poor debate performance on June 27. During the 90-minute televised debate, President Biden frequently mumbled, trailed off mid-sentence, and struggled to articulate his points.
Trump took the chance to ridicule Biden's occasionally unclear statements. The 81-year-old incumbent frequently stumbled during his responses and, at one instance, paused before stating, "I beat Medicare."
Journalist Carl Bernstein has reported that the behind-the-scenes situation is even more concerning.
"These are people, several of them, who are very close to President Biden, who love him, have supported him – among them are some people who have raised a lot of money for him – and they are adamant that what we saw the other night, the Joe Biden we saw, is not a one-off," Bernstein made these remarks on Monday, July 1, during an appearance on 'Anderson Cooper 360', just days after the debate.
"That there have been 15, 20 occasions in the last year-and-a-half when the president has appeared somewhat as he did in that horror show that we witnessed, and what’s so significant is the people that this is coming from and also how many people around the president are aware of such incidents, including some reporters, incidentally, who witness some of them," Bernstein added.
