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Just before today’s White House press briefing, one of your correspondent’s most recognizable colleagues, Fox News’ Peter Doocy, was seen providing a breaking update on a horrific scene taking place 230 miles to the north. Outside the New York courthouse where former President Donald Trump was on trial, a man handed out a number of conspiracy-laden leaflets to passersby and then, to their collective horror, set himself on fire .
A video shared on social media shows the man lying motionless as flames burn him before finally collapsing, while police officers run to discharge fire extinguishers onto his burning body.
A few moments later, in Washington, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, was invited to react to the macabre events taking place on this sidewalk in Manhattan.
Ms. Jean-Pierre responded that it was “very sad news” and an “evolving situation” on which she had nothing other to report than to ask further questions to the local authorities. from New York.
“I have nothing other than what you bring. It’s just happening. It’s growing,” she added.
Your correspondent has been at the White House for nearly a decade now and can report that it’s not surprising that the president’s top spokeswoman was not fully briefed about a self-immolation incident in another city that happened just minutes before she was ready to do so. begin his daily press briefing. At the time she spoke, the man hadn’t even been identified by the New York Police Department yet.
But what was The press secretary’s apparent inability to discuss anything about an incident of broader significance that occurred last night was unusual.
Despite repeated requests, Ms. Jean-Pierre repeatedly refused to answer questions about Israel’s apparent retaliation against the Iranian city of Isfahan, the location of an Iranian air base and a nuclear facility.
She even went so far as to warn the press in advance that she would not discuss the strikes. Instead, she simply reiterated statements made earlier in the day by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, when, at a press conference alongside the Italian foreign minister, he said that states -United States were not involved in the strike.
The attack appears to be Israel’s response to a large, but largely unsuccessful, Iranian missile and drone strike over the weekend.
“I know there’s a lot of interest in reporting from the Middle East overnight, and we understand that. But I will say it now: I know that you will all certainly ask me questions about this, that we have no comment on the reports at this time,” she said.
Ms. Jean-Pierre did not even want to answer Why she was unable to comment.
The White House’s relative silence stood in stark contrast to the relative openness it showed earlier in the week, when a trio of senior defense officials were made available to brief reporters on the involvement American in the successful defense that Israel had launched against the more than 300 separate munitions. launched by Iran.
Following the defensive success, which reportedly brought down 99% of Iran’s rockets and drones, President Joe Biden urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “achieve victory” and asked him not to escalate further. the situation.
But Mr. Netanyahu – whose longevity on the Israeli political scene seems linked to his ability to prolong the state of war that has existed in the country since October 7 – has never made a habit of showing much deference or respect for American presidents. At least, not when these presidents are members of the Democratic Party.
Instead of following Mr Biden’s advice not to escalate the situation, the embattled Israeli leader – who, like Mr Trump, faces a criminal trial and must remain in power to avoid prison – instead chose to send Israeli munitions to Iran.
Ultimately, the Israeli attack on Iran left a usually open White House unusually silent.
If the goal of saying nothing is to defuse the situation by not exacerbating tensions in Tehran, such reluctance will be understandable in hindsight.
But given the state of tensions between Mr. Biden and Mr. Netanyahu, we may never get an explanation for why the White House had nothing to say about the Israeli retaliation.
