White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sharply criticized a North Carolina radio show host on Tuesday when he asked whether President Biden had dementia.
“When I told a number of people I was talking to you today, it was interesting, however, they all said, ‘Would you just ask him: Does the president have dementia? ‘” said WBT Charlotte radio host Mark Garrison. “So before we move on: right?”
“Mark, Mark, I can’t even believe you’re asking me this question. It’s an incredibly offensive question to ask,” Jean-Pierre responded.
Garrison noted, “You know, people ask for it,” and Jean-Pierre responded by saying, “You’re taking us down this rabbit hole.” »
“Let me be very clear about this. Over the past few years, the president’s physician has outlined the president’s health in great detail. “He’s a president – if you look at him every day, if you really pay attention to his record and what he’s done – you’ll see exactly how focused he has been on the American people, how “His actions were historic,” said Jean-Pierre. Peter continued.
“And so I’m not even going to really, really really, you know, take the premise of your question. I think it’s incredibly insulting. And so we can, you know, we can move on to the next question,” she said.
Garrison accepted his answer and moved on to his next question, focused on how Biden plans to gain support in North Carolina when gas and grocery prices remain high. Jean-Pierre pointed out that these prices have fallen significantly and highlighted some of Biden’s economic strengths.
“All the important races, these costs have decreased thanks to what this president has been able to do,” Jean-Pierre said, concluding his response. “And with that, thank you very much, Mark. Have an amazing, amazing day.
At the end of his response, a tone sounds. The radio hosts were visibly surprised by the suddenness of Jean-Pierre’s departure, which they characterized as the press officer hanging up the phone. Similar interpretations of the moment circulated in conservative media spaces.
The White House, however, objected to this characterization, suggesting that Jean-Pierre only had a few minutes for the interview and having notified the station in advance. A spokesperson also noted that the tone at the end was likely added artificially, noting that these sounds do not typically sound at the end of a call today.
“As she often does during the President’s trips, Karine had several interviews in quick succession with radio stations, each of which was offered 7 minutes. Once the agreed time had passed, she called for the next interview so that everyone could enjoy their full time. “This particular station chose not to air the entire interview and instead artificially attached a sound effect that our phones do not produce to the end of calls,” the White House spokesperson said, Andrew Bates, in a press release.
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